


Planet of the Dragons

by TiffanyF



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dragons, F/M, Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 13:24:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 55,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2193405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humans take to the stars for many reasons; some good, some honorable, some greedy, some deadly. The Doctor uncovers a plot to enslave planets for their material wealth and decides that he has to stop it. Along the way he has to rescue Amy Pond, lost in time, and save a young man that only wants to help his family. Do not own. Do not claim. Do not make any money here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One of my NaNoWriMo 2012 projects. The other won't be made public until I'm sure my plan for it will not work out.
> 
> For those that have read my "Dragon Chronicles" this is the planet they travel to with the Doctor. I've had some requests to tell the story. I'm having a bad writing day, so here you go. Full thing.
> 
> Geronimo.

Courage. Curiosity. Hope. Reasons that humans took to the stars. To find new planets to live on. To find new lives for themselves and their families. For adventure. For the challenge.

For the money.

No matter what anyone said, money was and always would be at the base of all human endeavors within the universe. Every trip to each new planet cost money, and it wasn’t always those traveling who came up with all the money. Because not every planet was fit for human habitation. There were gas planets where fuel could be harvested, but the human life span was shortened by twenty years. There were rock planets where humans lived under domes and, some said, didn’t live at all. Then there were the earth-like planets, technically rock planets, but with plants and water and oxygen atmospheres where all the expanding human empire needed was hard work, a pioneer spirit; and money.

There were also the groups who traveled out to find just the money. The mining groups who existed to obtain money for their backers or their owners; sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. Those groups would travel out and survey planets, earmarking them for future mining unless they found something so extraordinary that they were ordered to land and mine immediately. The survey crews didn’t always have mining equipment with them, but they could establish a camp and survey the intended site while they waited for the heavy equipment to arrive. They also could talk with and make deals with any natives they found on the planets, sometimes agreeing to give them a cut of whatever they were taking, sometimes promising food, and sometimes enslaving them. It really depended on the group in question. It was hard to police the expanding human empire, and in some cases, the small legal groups had just stopped. There was galactic law, but sometimes humans chose to ignore it because it got in the way of obtaining more money. 

The initial scans of planet MXW-89932 showed large loads of precious stones just lying around waiting for someone to come and claim them. The survey teams was ordered to the planet and told to establish camp and run more detailed surveys to establish the most cost-efficient manner to mine the gems.

It was one of the earth twin planets, with more trees than most of the surveyors had seen before, growing taller and larger than had been seen on earth in hundreds of years. Not even the botanist could name all of them, and he thought he knew everything about plants.

The ships found a rough clearing near the load that would be large enough to hold their ships and still allow a camp to be set up. It was one of the muscle, the token guards, who first had the feeling they were being watched. He insisted that the miners and scientists stay in the ships while the guards took a look around the forest and the paths to the load site.

The guards never came back.

After three hours waiting, Mick, the project leader, ordered his teams out to start setting out their equipment and gathering up food. Being of a cautious nature, however, he did order everyone to stay within sight of the clearing and not wander off alone. He didn’t want to lose anyone else before they even got a start on the job. Scans showed that the planet was uninhabited and he wondered where his guards managed to vanish to. It wasn’t like they were the smartest people in the universe, but they were tough and knew how to fight. There was nothing for it, he would have to send teams out looking for them before the night fell. No one knew if it would get cold or not, needing the thermo-data from the planet’s surface rather than space.

Dinner was a somber affair. A couple of the scientists spent their time watching the odd birds that were circling camp and speculating about what species they could possibly be similar to. The sky darkened to a bruise purple as the sun set, shifting down the spectrum from ocean teal, but never went any darker. 

“Okay, now that we’re fed, form up into teams,” Mick ordered. “We’re going out to find Sket and Tank. They’re overdue and I’m getting worried.”

“Out into that?” Carter, one of the younger men on the mining team asked, looking at the surrounding forest. It almost seemed like the trees moved closer as darkness fell.

“Yes, Carter, out into that. We’ll take a quick look around and be back before true dark falls. Arm up and get to work.”

Grumbling, the men gathered up their weapons and torches and went out along the dense paths into the forests. Almost all of them made it back, and Mick gave orders for the carnivorous plants to be marked carefully so no one else fell into them. They were going to start their surveys of the mine areas at first light. Mick ignored the reports of an odd fog that had overtaken the team that made it in closest to the mountain. It wasn’t his first time on a new planet and knew that humans got the jitters about the oddest things. Everything would be fine once his people learned the lay of the land and were able to do their jobs. Working always made his men focus, and if they were working, they would be able to get off the planet faster, if that was what it took to make them feel better.

The next day they couldn’t find the areas where the precious stones registered from space. They wasted a full day wandering around looking for a clearing that had appeared to be hundreds of meters across. It was at a base of a mountain. It shouldn’t have been that hard to find. The mountain was still there, shrouded in mist and clouds, but no one could find the open area.

The day after that they located it, but none of their equipment would work for them. Mick ordered a survey by hand, which would take longer, but give them the same results in the end. They just wouldn’t be done before their heavy mining gear arrived.

The following day it rained so hard that no one could leave the ships. The hammering of the drops on the metal exteriors of the hulls almost drove the men mad, and Mick had to ban card games and any game of chance after one of the diggers was shot dead arguing that a pair of twos beat a pair of fours when they were that suit.

Day after day something went wrong. Rumors started to circulate that there was an outside force working on the camp, protecting the area they wanted to mine, and would kill them all if they didn’t leave immediately. Mick put down the rumors as best he could and kept his men working. He didn’t know how to convince them that the birds that kept circling around their camp weren’t out to kill them. The men seemed to fear the birds more than they feared anything else. Even going near the mountain. They heard things in the mountain. Weird growls and roaring that set their hair on end. Yet it was the birds that freaked them out the most. 

When the attack finally came from the sky, none of them were ready.


	2. Chapter 2

“You lost her!”

“No, Rory, I didn’t lose her. She’s not lost, just temporally misplaced.” The Doctor didn’t look up from the console.

“You lost her!”

The Doctor sighed, remembering why he hadn’t traveled with a married pair of= companions since his original body stole the TARDIS. They had a tendency to get even more emotional about events like this. “Amy is not lost, Rory. I know exactly where she is. I’m just not sure when she is, but the TARDIS will be able to find her.”

“When?”

“You’re in a time machine. When doesn’t matter. It’s always now in this room, Rory. A never ending now that lets you visit then and when whenever you want.” The Doctor kicked open one of the storage compartments and pulled out what looked like a red and yellow butterfly yo-yo. “Time is one thing that doesn’t matter in here.”

Rory sighed and counted to ten. Three times. “Doctor, you’re the one who took us to that place. You’re the one who said the local teleports were perfectly safe. You’re the one who lost Amy.” He stalked around to where the Doctor was working. “I’m the one telling you to bring her back. Now.”

“It’s not as easy as you may think, Rory. I have to work out exactly what caused the malfunction in the local teleports. I was able to gather up the data I needed before they chased us out. Then, I need to figure out where Amy was attempting to teleport to, as to is just as important as when in this case. And then, with help from the TARDIS, we can triangulate every variable and go pick Amy up. I’d be able to work faster if you weren’t crowding me against the console.”

“I just want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to bring my wife back safely. What is that thing, anyway?”

“This? It’s a yo-yo.” The Doctor started playing with it. “It helps me think. Yo-yos are cool.”

“They’re....My wife is lost in time and space and you’re playing with a toy?”

“It’s a complicated issue. So many variables to work through.” The Doctor started walking around the console, twisting the yo-yo into patterns that suggested at least two extra dimensions in play, muttering to himself. “It doesn’t make any sense why they chased us off like that. It can’t have been because of the hospital. That was my previous self and about three hundred years into their future. I suppose it’s possible they took exception to the perfume Pond was wearing, it was rather strong and smelled rather like the fish I remember eating there one time. Those made me frightfully ill. No, they wouldn’t have rigged one of their local teleports just because they were offended by her perfume. Still, Rory, just to be safe, would you go and bring me all of Pond’s perfume bottles?”

“What? No.”

“Thank you, it’ll help me, what do you mean no?” The Doctor stopped pacing and immediately tripped over the yo-yo string, which had somehow managed to wrap around his ankles. 

“I mean I know better than to mess with any of Amy’s beauty products,” Rory replied. “Oh for, do you need a pair of scissors or something?”

“No, I’m fine. Rory, it’s possible the cats took exception to the perfume Amy was wearing today and that’s why she’s gone, but I won’t know for sure unless I can smell it again.”

“That’s stupid. They may as well have zapped her because of the clothes or jewelry she was wearing,” Rory shouted. “Why does it have to be some sort of huge plot? Why couldn’t it have been a random malfunction of some kind?”

The Doctor finally managed to get untangled from his yo-yo and stood up. “Because the data I collected doesn’t show any type of malfunction or localized interference. There has to be some sort of logical reason for this to have happened and why are we landing?” He spun around, tripping over the yo-yo again and started pushing buttons on the console. “I didn’t tell you to land. Why have you landed?”

“Doctor?”

“This isn’t where we were,” the Doctor said, rushing around to grab the monitor. “I had the TARDIS set to hover near the cat’s planet so we wouldn’t have as far to go to find Amy, and she brought us here. This shouldn’t have....Oh, well, that does make sense then.” He shook a finger at the console. “That’s still very naughty of you and you should have given me a little more warning.”

“Doctor? What’s going on?”

“The TARDIS picked up a distress signal from near here. Come on, Rory, we need to see what’s going on and how we can help.”

“No, we need to go find Amy.”

“Rory, think about this for a minute. The TARDIS brought us here with absolutely no intervention from me at all. That means that whatever is wrong here is important. Very important. Important enough that it needs the attention of a Time Lord. That means I have to investigate.”

The human man grabbed his arm. “Doctor, my wife is lost in time because of you and your stupid plans for a holiday,” he said. “Let some other Time Lord handle the problem here and you go find Amy.”

“There are no other Time Lords, Rory.” The Doctor’s face fell and a deep sadness filled his eyes. “I’m the last one, which means that there are times when I have to place all my personal feelings aside and do the work I was born to do. I am sorry, Rory, so very sorry, but Amy will have to wait. I have to see why the TARDIS brought me here.”

“I’m not going.”

“If that’s what you want, then stay here. I’ll be back when I finish up.” The Doctor broke off as a loud, angry roar broke the air above them. “Still want to stay here alone?”

“Out there is loud, scary monsters. In here is safe.”

The Doctor grinned. “Out there is adventure. Geronimo!” He pulled the TARDIS door open and stepped out into a forest. “This is strangely familiar.” He frowned and looked around, tasting the air for good measure. “This isn’t ancient Draconia, is it? Maybe ancient, ancient Draconia. Which would mean that.....” The Doctor trailed off as the shadows in front of him resolved themselves into the shape of a very large, very angry black dragon. “Ah. I don’t suppose telling you I’m a noble of your future people would do any good? No, I thought not. I’m here to help. Can you talk? What’s wrong?”

Rory peeked out the door just in time to see the Doctor picked up and carried away by a dragon.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mick, you're never going to believe this."

The team leader glared at the kid who had just slammed his way into the office of the main ship. Danny was the youngest member of the team on planet, and one of the most eager to fight. 

"What is it? I'm busy."

"There's a police call box just appeared at the edge of the forest," Danny replied. "With two men in it."

"What the hell is a police call box?"

"No idea, but that's what it says on the top. It's a big blue wooden box."

"That just appeared outta nowhere?" Mick sighed. "How long has it been since your team had a rest period, Danny?"

The teen almost visibly bristled at the suggestion that he was making up stories. "We're not seeing things, Mick. Carter, he wants you to come see."

"I've got enough to do what with the ceremony tonight. You said there are two men. Were they armed?"

"Not visibly, no."

"Your team has guns, go and capture them."

Any reply Danny could have made was interrupted by heavy clatter in the hall. The door slammed open and a strange man was pushed in, so off balance that he fell to the floor. Mick stood quickly and faced Carter. "Who is this?"

"One of the men from the police call box, Mick," Carter said. "His pal was taken by the monsters and is probably roasting away right now. I thought this one might be able to tell us something."

Mick bit back a sigh and looked at the man sitting on the floor. He was humanoid, but dressed in clothes unlike anything Mick had seen before. He also seemed remarkably calm for a man with five guns pointing at him. Not knowing what sort of information the man might have, Mick decided to start with the basics. He wasn't trained in interrogation. That had been Sket's field, and he was still missing. "What's your name, son?"

"Rory. Rory Williams."

"Where'd you come from, Rory Williams?"

"I honestly have no idea. I didn't catch the planet's name and then I was here," Rory said. "I don't suppose you could stop pointing those guns at me, could you? I'm not armed. The Doctor doesn't allow weapons in the TARDIS."

"Doctor Who?"

"Just The Doctor as far as I know. Actually, you could help me. He was captured by a dragon just before your men arrived," Rory said. "I need him to help me find my wife."

"You're not making any sense at all, boy, and I've lost enough people to those monsters," Mick said. "I don't have time for this nonsense. Take him and tie him up next to the crate. Two sacrifices might make a better impression than one. Sorry, son, but there's a war on."

"There usually is," Rory sighed. "You'll regret doing this, you know. The Doctor will be able to help you, but if you hurt me then you'll be in a lot of trouble. I've seen a lot too. Do you really want to risk losing a good resource?"

"I don't know a thing about you, so I can't trust you. Your doctor friend is being eaten as we speak, and I've got people I've got to save. Go on, Carter, take him out. I'll be along at sunset for the ceremony and sacrifices."

"What about the box?" Danny asked.

"Leave it be for now. We've got enough to worry about," Mick said. **********

Once he was tied to a wooden stake - yet another thing he never expected to have happen to him - Rory was left alone in the middle of the camp. Alone except for a canvas draped box with something very angry inside it. He studied what he could see of the camp while testing the knots holding him to the stake. Rory really didn't like the sound of the word sacrifice, and liked the idea of a double sacrifice even less.

What he could see of the camp suggested people who hadn't been well supplied when they landed, and were even less so now. Ships were sitting in a loose semi-circle with wooden barricades taking up the rest of the space. Some cloth tents huddled up against the metal hulls of the ships, but there was no movement from any of them and Rory suspected they were empty. 

Stone circles marked out where campfires were made, and Rory could only just make out where the people had been cutting into the forest for fuel. It wasn't the most raggedy camp he'd seen in his time traveling with the Doctor, but it was near the top. Rory wasn't sure what had happened to land the people on the planet with the dragons, or what this war Mick had mentioned was all about, but figured that was why the TARDIS brought them to the planet. Something about the humans and dragons caught her attention. He did wonder, however, which race sent out the distress call.

He quit pulling against the ropes when the improved courtyard started to fill with people. Rory might not have know the details of what was going on around him, but he knew that the Doctor would show up and save him. He didn't believe for a second that the Time Lord had allowed himself to be supper.

"All right, all right, settle down." Mick's voice cut through the muted conversations around the courtyard. "We all know why we're here, so let's get this started. Tonight we're finally going to be able to prove once and for all that we're willing to fight back. We'll send the monsters a message they won't be able to ignore or forget." He tangled his fist into the canvas and yanked it back. "We will show them that we too are willing to kill."

"Willing to kill a baby and an innocent man." Rory's heart leapt when he heard the Doctor's voice from the forest. "And you call them the monsters."

"Who the hell are you? Where are you? Show yourself, you coward!"

The Doctor appeared in the light between two of the ships. "Coward, that's new." He smiled. "We seem to have a very different opinion of what that word means. Now, I think we can work this all out. Your people will put their guns down, you'll release your prisoners and then we can talk."

"Or we could just shoot you," Mick pointed out.

"You could, yes, but you see, I have some friends with me who might just take exception to that." 

Two large scaled heads rose up behind the ships, eyes flashing in the firelight. "They want their daughter back and are willing to try my methods first, but as you can probably imagine, they're not really too thrilled with the idea. It took me forever to convince them that violence needs not be met with violence, but we got there in the end." The Doctor strolled through the crowed and stopped in front of the crate. "Hush now, Melconia, we're here to help you."

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Rory asked.

"I speak dragon, Rory," the Doctor replied. "How'd you get tied up in this mess anyway? I thought you planned to stay in the TARDIS."

"Now is not the time for puns, Doctor. Would you please untie me?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." The Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the ropes without looking away from the crate. "Keep an eye on everyone for me, would you, Rory? I need to get Melconia out of here and back to her parents."

"You are not taking away our only bargaining chip," Mick exclaimed.

The Doctor rounded on him. "Melconia is a living, breathing, scared baby," he said slowly. "She is not a hostage or a sacrifice or a chip to be used in your little war. She's a person and she is terrified."

"Those monsters killed my people."

"Your people were trespassing on the dragons' sacred burial grounds," the Doctor said. "I am so very sorry for you loss, but you have no right to land on another race's planet and expect them not to fight for themselves. This is their home."

He sonic'd the cage open and reached inside, bringing out a blue dragon about the same size as a lion cub. "A broken wing, dear," he said softly. "Painful but not fatal. You just stay still and let's get you back to your parents then, shall we?"

Rory, who had been watching from the side saw the flash of metal in Carters's hands. "Doctor!"

There was a bang from the gun in Carter's hands, roars from the two dragons and the Doctor fell to the ground, Melconia keening on his stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

The cave wasn't bad as far as caves went, but it was a far cry from any sort of sterile medical facility, or even the TARDIS, and Rory knew that was what the Doctor needed. The dragons, however, refused to allow them to leave the cave. It was really remarkable how clear they could be on the matter when they didn't speak English and the TARDIS wasn't translating. Rory tried everything he could think of to get the wounded, unconscious Doctor back to the TARDIS, but nothing worked. He finally resigned himself to being a captive yet again and continued treating his patient as best he could.

Somehow, and Rory had no idea how, the bullet missed both of the Doctor's hearts and his lungs, or at least, that was his best guess. The Doctor's breathing was labored, but there was no bloody foam in his nose or mouth, and his pulse was strong. Weird but strong. His color was off, but he had lost blood, so Rory wasn't too surprised at that. Rory finally just slapped the floor in frustration. He needed to get the Doctor back to the TARDIS and, well, and he didn't know what he was going to do. Ask the ship to take them to a place the Doctor could get help. Rory wasn't qualified for surgery. He wouldn't be able to get the bullet out without help. All he could do was keep the Doctor alive until help came.

"Rory? Where are we?"

"Doctor, no, stay still. You've been shot and the bullet's still in you," Rory said. "If you move around it could shift and kill you."

"Bullets, what old fashioned weapons they have." The Doctor closed his eyes. "Rory, listen to me. I'll be fine, but I have to do something that could scare you so I wanted to let you know. I'm a Time Lord. I'm hard to kill, and I'm not going to regenerate. Not from this. I will have to go into a healing coma and that's going to lower my body temperature to what you would think is death."

"How?"

"Normal for me is around 15C, we're a naturally cold race, Rory. The coma will lower my internal temperature to below freezing." The Doctor shifted a little. "I don't know how long I'll be unconscious, there's damage, but not as much as you're thinking. Now, listen to me. I need you to see to Melconia. Her parents are worried about her wing and I promised we'd look at it. Take care of her and I'll be back with you as soon as I can."

Rory blinked. "You want me to doctor a dragon, Doctor?"

"Yes. You have a gentle touch and you won't scare her. My breathing and heart rates are going to drop, Rory. You may even think I'm dead. Just take care of Melconia and don't worry about me. Time Lords are hard to get rid of."

"Tell me about it." Rory ran both hands through his hair. "Okay, fine. I guess I don't really have a choice in this, do I? How am I supposed to communicate with them? The TARDIS isn't translating."

"She won't until I'm healed," the Doctor sighed. "Sign language, Rory. Do your best. I'll see you soon."

Rory had so many other questions, like how he was supposed to sign to creatures with claws, what he was supposed to eat, did he need to go and take care of the TARDIS, and how would he know if the Doctor really did die if there were no vital stats to rely on. The Doctor seemed to realize this, however, and slipped back into unconsciousness - or the coma - and was still. Rory sat and stared at him for a long minute, thinking how vulnerable the Doctor looked at that moment, and maybe even seeing a little of what Amy did whenever she looked at the Doctor. Then he sighed and stood up, looking around to find the guard he knew would be there. "Okay, he's settled. I'm all yours. Let's go see to Melconia, shall we?"

The large dragon stared at him for a long moment and Rory realized that he probably hadn't been understood. Communicating was going to be harder than he'd thought. Feeling like an absolute idiot, Rory bent over and let one arm hang loosely as if it was broken and did his best to imitate the noises he'd heard the baby dragon making over the Doctor's still form. The large black dragon watched him closely, head tilted to one side, and finally nodded. He turned and started down one of the side tunnels, obviously expecting Rory to follow him. Rory glanced back at the Doctor one last time and followed, having absolutely no idea what he was getting himself into.  
**********

The Doctor listened to Rory leaving and allowed himself to sink farther down into his mind. He didn't want to leave Rory alone on the planet with the dragons and no way to communicate, but he didn't have a choice. The bullet was sitting near a fairly important vein and he had to expel it and heal the damage before he had a chance to help anyone on the planet. At least Melconia was safe and back with her parents. The Doctor wondered how the humans out in that rough camp ended up on the planet, what their purpose really was, beyond pillaging a sacred burial ground, though he was willing to admit that might be the sole reason they were there. He slowed his breathing and his hearts, focusing on the slowing beats to guide him into the healing coma. He felt bad for lying to Rory about the amount of damage done to his body, but the human needed to work with the dragons to gain their trust, and the Doctor would be able to look after himself far better than Rory would be able to with all his human medical training. Humany medicine just didn't work well on Time Lords.

Sinking fully into the healing coma, the Doctor's last thought was about Amy, wondering where she was and how she was managing.


	5. Chapter 5

The grass was long and fragrant. Amy moaned softly and pushed up to her hands and knees, looking around. "Doctor," she growled when she saw that all of the technology that had surrounded her prior to entering the teleport was gone. "Great, I'm stuck alone somewhere in the   
past. Just wait until the Doctor gets here."

Amy dusted off her hands and stood up. She wasn't going to just sit there and wait to be rescued. She was hungry and thirsty and wanted to find shelter and maybe a weapon. There was no way to know what sorts of creatures were hanging around wherever it was she had landed, and she wasn't about to become supper for any of them. Off in the distance, near distance, she could hear water and started that way for lack of any other direction to walk in. The grassland around her looked pure and unsettled, and she could only hope the same would be true of any source of water she found, because she didn't have any matches or way to start a fire and really didn't want to get sick while waiting for The Doctor to come and find her.

She crested the top of a hill and froze, almost completely overwhelmed at the view in front of her. There was a waterfall dancing down into a large pond that fed out into a river. "Okay, maybe that's worth being lost," she muttered to herself, starting down the hill carefully. "You don't get to see many things like this on Earth these days. Still, I wonder how I'm supposed to know if it's safe to drink?"

Walking around the pond showed there were fish darting about and Amy started to wonder if there was any truth to that old story of rubbing to sticks together to start a fire. She had never tried it before and had no idea of how she was even supposed to know what sort of sticks to look for, but if there was one thing she knew she did have, it was time. She bit her lip and decided that it was time to teach herself to live off the land, even if she did have a rubbish teacher for the job. 

Fire first, then food and water. At least it didn't look like it was going to rain.


	6. Chapter 6

They were scant, but Rory noticed what looked like figures and symbols carved into the rock of the cave as he followed his guide along a large tunnel. One thing he learned in his travels with the Doctor was that outward appearance didn't equal culture level and it was possible that the dragons had a deep and complicated culture and belief system of their own, and the carvings were one of the outwards symbols of it. Or, he admitted, as he spotted the same one for the third time, they could just be directional indicators. With that thought in mind, he started paying a little more attention to them, and found that there was a pattern to which carving was at an intersection and which direction they went in. Then he realized the faint cries he had been hearing were getting louder as they drew closer to a cavern.

"Oh boy, this is the nursery, isn't it?" Rory asked his guide, knowing that the large dragon wouldn't understand and wouldn't answer, but he felt better for saying it.

What he hadn't realized was that they had been walking slightly uphill the whole way, and there was a sort of skylight that illuminated the cavern in sunlight. Nests were set around the walls and Rory could see dragons the size of house cats staring at him from around their parents' legs to dragons about equal in size to Melconia. He bit his lip as he followed his guide, hoping that all the adults had been told that he was friendly and there to help, not hurt their children. He really didn't want to experience death by dragon.

They stopped in front of a nest and Rory almost ran into his guide, not expecting the sudden stop. "Oh, thanks," he said with a smile. He took a step up towards the nest, hands held out to the side, palms out so that the large dragon behind the nest could see that he didn't have any weapons. He had no clue how he was supposed to doctor a dragon, even if it was a baby dragon, or how he was supposed to get the materials he needed when he couldn't talk to the dragons around him. Well, time to see how good he was at sign language.

"I'm Rory," he said, looking at the baby lying among the grass and twigs. "Rory. I'm here to help you, Melconia. The Doctor asked me to come and see you."

She rumbled deep in her throat, and Rory realized that she was tying to say his name. He smiled and knelt down, trying to ignore the stare coming from her parent. "That's right, Rory. Will you let me look at your wing, Melconia? I need to see if it needs a splint or if you'll be okay with just rest."

He jumped when sticks and vines landed next to him. Rory blinked a few times and then smiled. "Well then, splint it is, I guess. Thank you, that's just what I needed." He looked back at the baby. "I don't want to hurt you, Melconia, but I'm going to have to touch that wing of yours. Uhm." He mimed running his hands along her wings several times.

A grumbled sound from the larger dragon caught his attention. He looked up at Melconia's parent, not even sure if it was the mom or the dad - how did you tell with dragons anyway - and waited. The dragon, who was a deep enough blue to appear black in most lights, held up both front paws and started through a complicated series of gestures. Rory watched closely, catching on that the adult would hold the baby while he was working, but that was it. He nodded. "Okay, I can work with that." Biting his lip, Rory stood and stepped slowly into the nest, not sure if there was etiquette involved with what he was doing or not, but didn't get any reaction from any of the dragons. "I'm ready when you are."

The parent, Rory decided to just assume it was the mum, reached in carefully and picked up her daughter, cradling her in one paw, the broken wing supported against a talon'd finger. Rory decided that if he was going to get anything done, he had to ignore the claws, the talons and the teeth and focus on the baby who was injured. His hands shook as he reached out and ran them carefully along the high wing bone and shoulder joint, checking for breaks and injuries. "Yep, there's two breaks in there," he said softly. Looking up he signed as best he could. "Two breaks in the wing bone, but both are clean. As long as we set them, they'll heal and she'll be able to fly with no problems. Probably. I don't know much about dragon medicine."

He turned and picked up one of the sticks, testing it for strength and stability. "I need something to cut with. Do you have a knife or a rock or something?" He ran his hand along the stick in a sawing motion. "I need to cut these."

The guide nodded and moved off. Rory assumed he was going for something sharp and turned back to his patient. Binding up the wing wasn't going to be easy, it would take at least three sticks and most of the vines that he'd been given to work with, and even then there was the membrane to worry about. He didn't want to chafe the wing any while it was healing. A small part of Rory wondered how the large dragons normally dealt with wing injuries and then wondered if maybe the babies weren't normally allowed out of the mountain until they were larger and their bones were stronger. That raised the question of how Melconia could have been  
captured by the humans and held prisoner.

A dark piece of rock landed next to him. Rory looked up at his guide/helper. "Thanks," he smiled. He picked it up carefully and saw that one edge was sharp enough to cut through the materials he was working with. "All right, this will be my first time doing anything like this, so I apologize in advance for anything that I do wrong. I just want to make sure that Melconia is able to heal properly and live a happy life."

The mum grumbled in her throat again, and Rory took that to mean go ahead. He measured the first branch carefully and marked where it would need to be cut and then carefully placed a second branch over the first to measure it as well. As he worked, he could feel eyes focused on him, adult dragons and some of the older children, and Rory had to spare a thought that he might have been the first human a lot of these dragons had seen.

Melconia lay quietly in her mother's paw, cat-like eyes watching Rory closely. He kept up a stream of chatter, just like he would if he was working with a human child, hoping that the tone and rhythm of his voice would soothe the baby a little more."There," he finally said, tying the last knot in place. "As long as she stays still for the first week or so, I think that will hold." He held out his hands and motioned downwards with them. "Keep her calm and still. She needs sleep. And, you know, I could use some food. Do you have anything to eat around here?"

His guide started up a conversation with Melconia's mother, that ended with a nod and a motion to follow again. Rory gave Melconia one last stroke to the head and followed his large guide back out of the cavern and into the darker tunnels.  
****************

Arriving back in the cavern where the Doctor was lying in a pile of grass and straw, Rory could see why the Time Lord had taken the energy to warn about the healing coma. He looked, from a human point of view anyway, dead. There was barely any rise and fall to his chest, and Rory's eyes watered as he stared long enough to see one slight movement. Resisting the urge to touch the Doctor to check on the bullet wound, Rory sat down next to him and leaned back against the wall. He wanted to talk, to tell the Time Lord what he had just done, but was worried that it might interfere with the healing coma, cause the Doctor some problems and either extend the coma or make it permanent. He resigned himself to a silent vigil, worrying about the Doctor, about Amy, about Melconia and the dragons and how they were going to stop this war that Mick seemed to be determined to carry on no matter what. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when something landed next to him. Rory jumped, looking around and finding that his guide had returned with a hunk of some sort of cooked meat. "Thanks," Rory whispered. He ignored the fact that it had been torn apart with claws and focused on the fact that it was hot and smelled amazing. Better than a lot of things he had smelled while traveling, but then again, that might just be because he was so hungry. Rory forced himself to eat slowly, not wanting to strain his stomach, and ended by licking his fingers clean. "That was wonderful, thank you."

The large dragon rumbled, and Rory realized it was a fond noise. He smiled. "Would it be possible for me to see more of your home?" he asked. "I'd like to see how you live, experience your culture."

The dragon nodded and stood, heading off into a different tunnel. Rory spared one glance back at the Doctor and followed. He didn't know where they were going, but if he was the only one awake and able to learn, then he was going to do just that.


	7. Chapter 7

Mick circled around the blue box that had been carried into the middle of camp trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "There's no way two grown men could fit in here," he muttered. "It's made of wood. There's no way that it could fly or be a ship of any sort."

"I'm telling you it did," Danny protested from the side. "Mick, it made this weird sort of humming noise and just appeared where we found it. That doctor guy came bounding out, saw the monster waiting in the shadows, tried talking to it and was taken prisoner. The other guy looked out and that's when we caught him."

"What did he say?"

"I dunno, nonsense about this being an ancient ancient planet, something about nobles and how it wasn't going to do any good."

"And Carter was stupid enough to go and shoot him. That Doctor, we could've used him for information. It sounds like he knows more than that Rory guy did." Mick kicked the box and started back towards his office. "Now the monsters have them both plus the baby we managed to lure out and capture. Right now we got nothing to stop the monsters killing all of us."

"Yeah, but Mick, what if they don't want to kill us?" Danny asked. "I mean, they had that Doctor and they didn't kill him. They might not have killed anyone they took from the camps. Our people might still be alive."

"Danny, don't be an idiot," Mick snapped. "We heard the screams. Ain't no one that screams like that unless they're dead. We have to get serious about this. I don't want to have to tell the bosses that we gave up on this much money easy."

"This isn't easy," Danny protested. "Mick, maybe it's time to try to talk to them. I mean, that Doctor seemed to be doing okay. Maybe he's not dead. Maybe we can find him."

"They're monsters, Danny. That's all you need to remember. Now get back on duty. We have to keep the camp safe."

The teen left the office and the ship, heading back out into the open air. Danny was born on a space station and had never been on a planet before. Traveling to other worlds was one of the reasons he'd taken the job. Getting money for his family was the other, but he couldn't think about them now. His dad had been missing for years, his mom was doing everything she could to raise the younger children on her own, and depended on Danny's wages to feed his younger siblings. He couldn't die, and doing what Mick wanted seemed the best way to end up dead. Danny slipped into his cabin and started to put together a bag. He didn't know what he was going to do, how he was going to find the Doctor or Rory, but he had to try. He wasn't part of the team that captured the baby dragon and he hadn't realized how small and fragile she was. Just like his youngest sibling. Maria had just been starting to walk when Danny left on the trip a year back, and he'd been so worried she was going to hurt herself or break something that he hovered until his mom told him not to worry. The baby dragon was just that, a scared baby, and Mick had been ready to kill it.

There was no excuse for killing children. It didn't matter if they weren't human, babies were there to be protected. Danny slung his pack onto his shoulders and left his cabin, leaving his guns behind. He figured he had a better chance of not getting hurt by the dragons if he went in unarmed. If he died, then at least he would have died doing something he knew was right.


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay, so, obviously rubbing two sticks together is a myth that should be removed from history." Amy dropped the sticks she had been working with into the improvised fire pit and wiped her forehead. She was getting quite the workout. "When I get back to the TARDIS, I am so making sure that I put matches in my pockets from now on. Maybe full survival kit to carry whenever we go out onto a strange planet. It's got to beat being stuck in the past with nothing to start a fire or catch fish."

She picked up two rocks and studied them. Amy knew that she'd heard something about creating sparks with rocks, but didn't know if she needed specific types to do it, or what they even looked like. She was a city girl and relied on the Doctor to take care of things like starting fires if they were out of the TARDIS at night. Biting her lip, Amy struck the rocks together at an angle and grinned when there was a small spark. "Brilliant. Now all I have to do is get them to catch this grass on fire and I'm all set. Maybe I'm going to get lucky after all."

A few more strokes of the rocks and she caught sight of smoke rising from the grass. Holding her hair back, Amy leaned over and blew gently into the dried grass and weeds piled in the middle of the stone circle. She kept at it, working slowly and carefully, no matter how much she wanted to rush, and finally had a baby fire that she fed until it was burning hard enough to take some of the sticks she'd scavenged from the grass. "The only problem with this is that I have nothing to heat water in," Amy sighed. "Well, at least I know how to bank a fire to keep it going. Never thought those lessons would come in handy." Her aunt had often left the fireplace tending to Amy while she was growing up and she hated starting them, so she'd learned how to bank them at night so it would relight easily the next morning.

"Now then, food. I guess the water looks clean enough, I might just have to risk it unless I find a cup or something abandoned around here. Those fish looked like they were moving awfully slowly, I wonder how hard spear-fishing is."

Leaving her tights near the fire along with her boots and socks, Amy waded out into the clear water, wincing at the chill, and watched the fish. They all darted away when she entered the water, but she waited and they eventually started coming back. Amy wasn't sure she would be able to spear one of them without practice, and resigned herself to a long afternoon freezing in the lake just to try and get one bloody fish.

"Oh, the Doctor has a lot to answer for when I get my hands on him," Amy muttered. She was talking to herself just to break the silence that surrounded her, well, apart from the waterfall, but the rushing roar wasn't the same as being able to hear a human voice. Even if it was her own. "Nothing for it. Time to get to work. Maybe I'll spear him when he shows up."

Amy waded back to the shore and studied the pile of sticks she'd brought with her. One of them would have to work as a spear. One more skill to try and teach herself. Hopefully she wasn't rubbish at it. Taking hope from the fact that she'd managed to start a fire without matches or a lighter, Amy picked up the longest stick and turned back towards the water. Time to see what hunger and a fierce Scots attitude could do.


	9. Chapter 9

By the time Rory returned to the cave where the Doctor was still appearing to be dead, his mind was spinning with everything he had seen in the caves. The dragons, far from being monsters, had a society and culture that rivaled many Rory had seen on other planets. He had a feeling there was a clear leader to the clan, group, whatever the dragons called themselves, but he hadn't met them. His guide showed him what were most likely the public access areas of the cavern network, and even those were enough to cause a sense of awe in Rory. There was artwork on some of the cave walls that he was willing to bet the most hardened collector would sell his soul to obtain. Everything he had seen only made Rory believe more than ever that they had to help the dragons with the humans who were doing everything in their power to cause a war.

With a sigh, Rory settled down near the Doctor, not touching, but near enough that he would wake up if the Doctor did and closed his eyes. The grass and straw did nothing to disguise the fact that he was, in fact, trying to sleep on rock and Rory didn't think he would ever be able to fall asleep. He had so many thoughts and worries spinning out of control in his mind - Amy, the dragons, the war, the floor, baby Melconia - that he was sure he would be awake all night and   
worthless the next day.

A small movement woke him from a deep sleep and Rory scrambled back when he realized he was cuddling the Doctor. Rory was used to sleeping with Amy, to have someone to hold during the night, that he must have just drifted towards the Doctor without even realizing it. "Doctor?"

"How do you stand being so warm, Rory?" the Doctor muttered. "Is there a bullet on the floor?"

"What?"

"I managed to expel the bullet and heal the damage, but I want to see what it looks like. I'm not even sure what century we're in, let alone what planet we're on," the Doctor said. His eyes fluttered open. "What have you been up to while I've been asleep?"

"Healing a baby, eating, touring the caverns. Oh, Doctor, you should see some of this artwork they have here," Rory said. He held up a piece of metal. "Here's the bullet. Are you hungry? Thirsty? They've been pretty good about bringing me what I need."

"Of course they have, they're highly intelligent," the Doctor said. "Help me sit up, please, Rory. Yes, food. Tea would be brilliant, but probably no chance of that without the TARDIS close by. By now, Mick and his people will have taken her into their camp."

Rory made sure the Doctor was comfortable against the rock wall and leaned back. "Those people have the TARDIS?" he demanded.

"It's the next logical move, though I don't know how many logical moves they have left in them. That man, Mick, he struck me as a man out of his depth," the Doctor said. He looked down at the bullet. "Ah, that settles that at least. Second great human empire, fairly early on in it's development, but nevertheless, it gives me a starting point. We need the TARDIS, Rory. There's only so much I can remember about, ah, Belcoure, how nice to see you again."

Rory looked around and found that his guide had returned. "Hey, morning," he said with a smile.

"Doctor, Rory," Belcoure said, ducking his head in a sign of respect, and Rory realized that the TARDIS must be able to translate dragon. He made a note to ask the Doctor why it needed that specific function, as they hadn't met dragons before. "You rested well?"

"We did, thank you, Belcoure," the Doctor replied. "How's Melconia doing this morning?"

"She rests and asks after her friends," Belcoure replied. He showed far more fangs than Rory was really comfortable seeing, but it seemed to be a smile. "Our king wishes you to dine with him for the first meal of the day, and then, if you are strong enough, you can visit the hatchlings."

The Doctor smiled. "We would be honored to join the king for first meal," he said. "Help me up, Rory. I'm going to be a little wobbly until I eat. Healing like that is no picnic."

"You're going to have to explain more about that when we're done with all of this," Rory said as he pulled the Doctor to his feet and looped an arm around his shoulders. "Lead on, Belcoure."

The black dragon rumbled. "You understand me well even when the magic isn't working to translate, Rory," he said as he started out of the cave. "I should expect nothing less from one who travels with the Doctor."

"Yes, about that, Belcoure, how exactly do you know me?" the Doctor asked. "I'm fairly sure I've never been here before, at least not that I remember, and I'm fairly sure that I would be able to remember meeting such fine dragons as your people are."

"A ship landed here many years ago and they brought stories of a man who travels in a blue box," Belcoure said. "The Doctor. The Time Lord. The one who will never let harm come to   
those innocent of wrong-doing if he can help them."

"Yes, well, that's all well and good, but it seems that people have been telling stories about me and I really would like to know who they were."

"Y'know, Doctor, that actually sounds a lot like you," Rory said. "You do have a passion for helping those who need help, even when they're not always aware that they need help in the first place."

"Yes, thank you, Rory. Now I'm a legend in my own time. Just what I didn't want to have happen. No offense meant, Belcoure. Of course I'll help you any way I can, but I'm going to need my ship for some of this. If only to keep me from being shot again."

"We can retrieve your ship for you while you dine," Belcoure offered.

"No, no. Thank you, but no. I don't want your people anywhere near those humans until I'm able to work out exactly what it is the humans want from this planet and how best to either stop them or work out a compromise," the Doctor said. "The TARDIS can look after herself for a day or two while I'm thinking."

"Through here," Belcoure said. "We shall remain watchful but make no move towards the camp unless they return to the sacred grounds, Doctor."

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Yes, of course, you must defend your ancestors. I understand that. But if you could try not to kill them, that would be most helpful."

"We have killed none," a voice said from inside the cavern in front of them.

"None?" The Doctor stepped into the cavern and knelt, pulling Rory down with him. "Then, my most honored King, you are far more intelligent than I realized."

Lights, fires, slowly came to life and showed a white dragon resting on a raised rock on the far side of the cavern. "They are contained, held, away from my people, Doctor, but they are cared for and shall be returned when the invaders agree to leave the planet."

"And should they never agree to such a term?" the Doctor asked.

"Then my people will begin to kill," the King replied. "We are a peaceful race, we dislike harming any creature we cannot use for food, but this is our world and we will protect it."

The Doctor stood and moved across the room, sitting down where he could see the King a little more closely. "There's more to this than I first realized," he said. "How long have your people lived on this world, King?"

"We came here in the year 3856 fleeing the humans who were spreading out into the universe, who attempted to enslave my people on our original home world," the King sighed. He rested his head on his paws and stared at the Doctor. "We found this world mainly by luck and were able to settle here, far away from the humans. But not far enough, it seems."

"They continue their spread for many centuries to come," the Doctor said. "So you've been on this world for approximately 500 years. Well now, that's enough to establish an empire so you definitely have first right to the world and resources by galactic law. The humans are trespassing, I'll agree with that, but what if they were to mine far away from your caverns? How large is the world?"

"Not large enough to allow their machinery and wasteful ways," the King said. "From what I have seen, they have not changed since our kinds last met."

"King, forgive me for such an impertinent and personal question, but how old are you?"

The king rumbled. "You're as wise as legend says you are, Doctor. I'm just over 600 years old. Our kind is long-lived so long as we are not injured or fall sick. Yes, I remember the humans on our old world, what they did how they treated it. I cannot allow such a thing to happen here."

The Doctor got a hand over Rory's mouth before the human could say anything. "King, with your permission, I would like to go and explore the land between your caverns and the human camp. I will not venture out onto the sacred grounds, if Belcoure can show me their boundaries, but I would like to see what else there is around here. I also need to be able to get to my ship."

"We can recover your ship, Doctor."

"Yes, well, I know you can, but she's going to be in a bad enough mood as it is," the Doctor grinned. "You know how females can be, King. It's probably better to let me talk with her before anyone else tries to get too close. We won't leave, I'm not trying to escape."

"I know you're not, Doctor. The tales of you ring true. Come and dine with me and then, while your human friend sees to his patient, I shall ask Belcoure to show you where you may go and where you may not. Yes, Rory, I know you are human. You tended one of our own, that puts you in the legends with the Doctor, not with those who attempt to kill us."

"There now, all settled," the Doctor grinned. "You see, Rory, your eye for medicine and art has put up even with me."

"Great," Rory said, once his mouth was free. "I wasn't going to say anything about humans there, you know, Doctor. I was going to ask if there was anything I could do to help while you were getting the lay of the land."

"Oh, sorry, Rory. Spend time with Melconia. She seems to have taken a liking to you. She won't be able to talk to you yet. The TARDIS only translates for the adults, for some reason, but you'll manage just fine. You proved that yesterday."


	10. Chapter 10

"Now, I want to be sure that I understand," the Doctor said peering down at the stone in his hand, "this will warm should I draw near any boundary of the sacred grounds and remain cold when I am away from them."

"Yes. It's far easier for you to use this method, Doctor," Belcoure said. "I could fly you over the sacred grounds, but that would take us all day, and I fear time is growing short. Even for you, Time Lord."

The Doctor grinned and put the stone in his pocket. He knew he would be able to feel the heat from there and he didn't want to risk losing it. "Time is only short if you don't know how to work with it, Belcoure," he said. "I'll be back, don't know when, it might be tomorrow depending on what I find. I'm going to try and get into the human camp and reach my ship."

"Do not risk yourself, Doctor. You are our only home for a peaceful outcome to this farce."

"Farce, what a grand word," the Doctor said. "Your patrols will be keeping an eye on me, no doubt. If I am captured by the humans, don't come for me. Send Rory, he'll know what to do, but I do not want dragons near the humans right now. Tempers are too high and I don't think their leader is sane. Insane men do far more damage than they realize."

"Be safe, Doctor. We will watch for you."

The Doctor gave a small two-fingered salute and set off down the slope, moving to his right when the stone in his pocket started to warm. He still believed that he was on an ancient, ancient Draconia if only because it was the only planet the Time Lords knew of that had any species of dragon on it. The only problem was that the timelines didn't work out. Time wasn't strictly a line, not for him, but for those who lived in it, time moved straight enough and the years were wrong. 

His hearts sang at the idea of a new planet, undiscovered by Time Lords, unknown to galactic history. A real adventure, just what he craved almost more than anything else. Companions, fellowship, those were his true desires. An ability to help others. Eliminate the darkness. So grand an idea, especially when he knew of the darkness that lived within his own soul.

The Doctor was good at hiding the darkness within himself, the ability to kill when he had absolutely no choice left. The Doctor who had been able to kill his people. He knew that he would never be able to tell either Amy nor Rory what he had seen when he was in the healing coma.

It really wasn't common for visions to come while a Time Lord was in a healing coma, but when they did, they were important and had to be considered from every angle in time and space to find the true meaning behind it. The Doctor had been alone in a six sided room,  a hexagon, with a door on each wall. Doors like the TARDIS. The room was dim, but the Doctor could still make out the details of the doors, of the room, and see the light beams that joined each facing door, and where they came together to form a six-armed star in the center of the room. Doors that held hints, fears, dreads, hopes? The Doctor wasn't sure and wouldn't be until he had time to consider, to revisit the room in his mind once everything was cleared up and they had found Amy. He hoped that Rory didn't think he had forgotten about Amy. She was far too close to his hearts for him to do anything like that, but it helped that Rory seemed to have taken to the dragons as much as they had taken to him and he was less frantic about what happened to his wife.

The Doctor forced his mind away from that train of thought and back to the room. He could at least consider what the matching pairs of doors meant. For they were matching. Each across the room from each other was paired. Daleks and Cybermen, each shown ruling the universe. A universe of daleks. A universe of Cybermen. Two of his worst fears. He had stopped that fate more times than he felt comfortable recalling, stopping the creatures from overrunning the universe time and again. As long as he lived, there would be no chance for either group to rule the universe. He would always stop them. 

The next pair beings of light and solid darkness. He thought the first were the Time Lords given form by Rassilon's ending to the Time War, if the Doctor hadn't been able to stop him. Stop them all from destroying the universe. Time Lords as beings of light. What a horrible way to live. That was another fear he had buried deeply within him. The darkness, however, puzzled him. He knew he held a certain amount of darkness within his being, but he wasn't sure if that was what the door opposite the beings of light showed, or if it was a dead universe. A place where no more stars shone within the sky, no planets held life. Just darkness for all eternity. He shuddered. He had been to the end of time. It wasn't a happy place, not a place he wanted to go again, but knew what was there. It also linked back into the third set of doors.

Master, the Master, and a dark Doctor. The Doctor knew that the Master was dead, finally and almost blessedly dead, as much as he hated to acknowledge that he was now the last of his kind. So alone, even with his companions. It was interesting, though, that the image of the dark doctor took the form of his previous regeneration. The Doctor only knew what he had looked like because of the TARDIS. He'd come across some old footage while trying to keep Amy from learning too much more about his previous companions, and had to admit that there was a certain something about the previous regeneration that lent itself to darkness far better than his current form did. He wasn't too sure, but he also thought that the black leather jacket had belonged to a previous regeneration as well, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to wear it. His previous regeneration did though. Wore it very well. The Doctor's inner darkness given a final form at last. So much to consider. To puzzle over. To wonder and worry at. The Doctor knew there had to be a message in there somewhere, he wouldn't have experienced the vision if he wasn't supposed to learn something from it. He just wasn't sure where he was supposed to start. All the rooms, all held with a TARDIS all represented one of his deepest fears, a part of him he kept hidden deeply away from everyone else.

A hand on his arm jarred him back to the woods he was walking through. "Hey, I've been calling to you for five minutes."

"Have you? I'm sorry, I was just taken in by the.....beauty of the woods. Lovely things, woods. Lots of trees and woodyness to be enjoyed," the Doctor said. "Wait, you're from the camp. What are you doing out here?"

"I ran away," Danny said. "Look, you don't want to go much farther that way. The plants are carnivorous and hungry."

"Oh, well thank you," the Doctor said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Danny Mitchell."

"Well then, Danny Mitchell, it's nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor. Why did you run away?"

"Because I don't want to hurt the dragons. That baby last night, the one you saved, she looked like my sister. Mick's wrong. So I ran, kinda hoping to find you or your friend before the dragons found me."

The Doctor stared at him. "Are you telling me you have a sibling that looks like a dragon?" he asked.

"What? No, pay attention. Maria's only a couple of years old and could barely walk last time I seen her," Danny said, with the certain impatience that only certain teenage boys seemed to be able to manage. "That's how that baby dragon looked to me last night. She's just a baby. You can't kill babies."

"You're quite right about that, you can't kill babies, but killing adults isn't a wonderful idea either," the Doctor said. "Why don't you come with me, Danny Mitchell? We'll get you somewhere safe and out of the rain and we can talk some more."

"It's not raining."

"It will be by the time we reach our destination, so about face. Let's go. Stay close and don't stray. A few of these paths go close into the dragon's sacred grounds and we don't have their permission to venture there. I have a key to warn me if we're too close, but you'll have to trust me."

Danny looked the man in front of him over. "Seems to me if you were shot as bad as we thought you were, and you're healed and up and moving about, I can't do anything but trust you," he said. "You got some sort of magic or did the dragons heal you up?"

"No, I did this all myself," the Doctor said. "It's a sort of trick of my people. Come on, we don't want to be soaked when we arrive back. If we hurry, we might just be in time for lunch."  
************

Rory had a different guide down to the nursery, a deep green dragon that he thought might be female. It was slightly smaller than Belcoure and the King, but he didn't want to assume, and he didn't know how to find out. "What's your name?" he finally asked. 

"I'm Donia."

"Nice to meet you, Donia," he said. "Thanks for taking the time to show me back down to the nursery."

"My king asked it of me, and it allows me to see my own baby for a spell."

Female, Rory thought to himself. "Really? I'll admit I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings yesterday because I was so worried about Melconia. How old is your baby?"

"He's a year out of the shell," she said. "I'll introduce you, if you like, but he doesn't much care for strangers."

"I'll stand well back and wave," Rory said.

"I've never met a human before, Rory," Donia said. "Are they all like you?"

"No. There are days when I think it would be easier if they were, but they're not. Humans can flip through so many different emotions at any given time that it's hard to tell what they're going to be like," he sighed. "Some can hide their true personality away completely, and they're the ones to really watch out for."

She glanced back at him. "Is that the type we face at this camp?"

"I don't know. I didn't come here with them, and was held captive for a short period of time, but didn't really get to observe them very closely. The Doctor will know more whenever he gets back. He's usually the one with the answers."

"You travel with the Doctor? You are lucky. I've heard of him in the legends."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem too keen on those legends," Rory said slowly. "Still, I've seen him do some things that I would have sworn were impossible and he made them look easy. You guys can trust him. If he says he's going to help, then he'll help. One thing I have never seen is him going back on his word."

"That's good. Come, my baby is towards the back a little."

Rory followed her along the rows of nests and finally stopped when she stepped in behind one. He watched closely and almost jumped when a light green head popped up over the edge. Donia rumbled. "This is Repore."

"Nice to meet you, Repore," Rory said in a soft, calm tone. "He's lovely, Donia."

"He takes after his sire more than me," she replied. "Go see to Melconia. Let me know when you wish to return to your nest and I shall take you there."

"I will, thank you." He turned and went back along the row of nests, a thought forming in his mind. It seemed that every dragon he'd met with an 'ia' on the end of their name was female and the ones with 're' were male. Rory would have to ask the Doctor about that one, see if he was right or not. "Hey there, Melconia. How are you doing today?"

She made the rumbling sound that resembled his name. "Hey, you remember. Let me take a look at that split, make sure it hasn't shifted on you any, and then we can talk, okay?"

"Rory."

"Oh, hey, didn't see you back there."

Melconia's parent, he didn't know if it was mum or dad, lifted up their head. "I'm Ania. Thank you for caring for my baby. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been on hand to tie up the splints."

Mum then. "Ania, that reminds me, what happens normally if a baby or young dragon breaks a bone? How do you care for them?"

"We do our best, but the young are isolated until late in their teens when their bones are far more stable," Ania said. "Melconia was lured out by those beastly humans and captured. If not for the Doctor and his pleas, my mate and I would have burned their camp in revenge."

"I understand. I don't have children of my own, but I hope to one day. They need to be watched and protected, don't they?" Rory smiled at Melconia and sat down on the edge of the nest. "The splint looks good. I really don't know anything about dragon medicine, but I think she's going to heal up just fine. If you can keep her still and resting, that is."

"I will," Ania said. "She really likes you. I do hope she didn't imprint on a human down in that camp."

"You saw the situation," Rory said. "I doubt she was shown much of anything other than harm and that crate. We'll avenge her, Ania. I'm sure the Doctor has a plan that will hurt the humans far more than anything physical you can do to them. Besides, Melconia needs you here."

"She does, and I won't leave her until she's healed. My mate and I are taking turns watching over her while she sleeps. You are a calming influence, Rory."

"Ania, you don't think she might imprint on me, do you?" Rory asked nervously.

"She might, but that wouldn't worry me. We realize you won't be here much longer, and imprinting can fade with time. She shall miss you, but as she grows, she'll forget. My mate and I shall not, nor shall our people. You and the Doctor are our saviors, Rory. You came like magic when we needed you most."

The TARDIS, Rory thought. She'd known they needed to be on the planet and brought them. He'd thought, originally, that it was the humans who sent out the distress signal the TARDIS had picked up on, but now he wasn't so sure. It was possible that the combined distress of the dragons in the cavern network was enough to draw the TARDIS - and by default the Doctor - to their aid. They certainly couldn't leave until the situation was resolved, and he felt a pang when he realized he hadn't worried about Amy since the Doctor was shot.

"You look sad, Rory."

"Sorry, it's just, Amy, my mate, is lost and we were on our way to find her when we found out you needed our help," Rory said. 

"Oh dear, will she be all right on her own?"

"I'd worry more about whoever's around Amy than about Amy," Rory said. "She can handle herself in any sort of situation with no problem and is a fighter. I guess I just miss her more than I realized."

"Of course you do, and that's only natural," Ania said. "Have midday meal with us, Rory, and tell us more of your Amy. She sounds like a woman with the spirit of a dragon."

Rory laughed. "I'd love to dine with you and Melconia," he said. "You're right, Amy is very much like a dragon at times. She's a wonderful woman, and I'm sometimes amazed she chose to spend her life with me."

"She obviously realizes what a good male you are," Ania said. "With how you care for the babies and young here, you too have the soul of a dragon. Be glad of that, Rory. You and the Doctor, you may well be part of the clan."

"That would be an honor," Rory said. He rubbed Melconia's head with a smile. The little blue dragon was growing on him, and he would be really sad to have to leave her behind.


	11. Chapter 11

Amy was, not to put too fine a point on it, soaked. Frustrated and soaked. The fish were also laughing at her. She wasn't sure how she knew this point, but she had been in the water for what felt like hours trying to spear a fish. It always looked so easy on the telly or in movies whenever anyone was lost in the woods. They had a fire roaring away and supper situated within an hour, if that. Just when she thought that taking a break and trying to dry out a little would be a good idea, she managed to spear a slow moving fish and keep it on her stick. "Oh, hey. There we go," she exclaimed aloud. Amy had to keep talking to herself, just to hear the sound of a human voice. She had never realized exactly how still and quiet open unpopulated areas could be, regardless of waterfalls or rivers.

She waded back to the shore and studied her prize. It wasn't a large fish, and the green scales were a little weird, but it was there and she could eat it. She'd eaten worse traveling with the Doctor. "Okay, now, how am I going to clean this thing and cook it?"

Her fire was still glowing happily in the ring of stones and she set the fish down next to it, thinking. No knife, nothing sharp except stones and they weren't exactly good for delicate work. Amy wasn't too sure how she felt about trying to eat a fish when it still had all of it's innards inside it, didn't even know if they would be okay to eat. There had to be a reason that people cleaned fish before they ate them, maybe there was something in the fish guts that was harmful to humans.

"Oi, give that back!" Amy yelled as a large cat came out of nowhere and snagged her fish. "I worked hard for that, I'm not letting some mangy cat take it away from me."

The cat, a silvery tabby color, dropped the fish and stood over it, growling. Amy sighed. "How do I reason with a cat? Wait, cat? Oh, you're kidding me. I've gone back so far in the planet's history that the cats are still cats and not catinoids, or whatever the hell it was the Doctor called them. Great. Just great. How the hell did that happen?" She stood up. "Give the fish back, cat. That's my dinner. You go catch your own. Go on. scat."

Amy hadn't had much experience with cats before, having never owned one, but she thought that clapping her hands loudly would be enough to startle it away from the fish. "You're not going to leave it, are you?" she sighed. She paused. "Are you saying no?"

The growl had a certain sound to it, and it sounded like no. Amy frowned and sat down again. 

"Okay then, cat. I give. Why would you steal my fish and then tell me no? Come on, if you can make that noise, then you can talk. Why are you telling me no?"

"Poison. Bad."

"Maybe I'm losing it, but it really sounds like you just said that fish is poisonous," Amy said. "You got a translator around here somewhere, cat? Mine is lost."

"Come."

"Why not? It's not like I've got anything better to do. What about my fire? I don't want to leave it alone, but really don't want to put it out."

The cat, maybe understanding that Amy wasn't about to run off with the fish, moved slowly towards the fire and buried it quickly. "Come."

"Being ordered about by a cat. I have the strangest life," Amy sighed. "All right, all right, I'm coming. Just let me put my shoes on. There's no way in hell I'm walking through that grass in my bare feet. You can just be patient for a minute."

The cat sighed, actually sighed, and sat down, staring at Amy. She put her tights and boots on as quickly as she could, feeling the weight of the glare, and stood. "All right, I'm ready. Lead on, cat. Let's see what you've got."


	12. Chapter 12

"Doctor, you return quickly."

"Belcoure, I encountered a small problem," the Doctor said. "This is Danny Mitchell, a child of the human camp who ran rather than fight. He's asked for my aid."

The large black dragon leaned down until his head was even with Danny's body. "From the camps. Has he fired upon my people?"

"No sir," Danny squeaked. "No, sir, I haven't. I've done guard duty but I never touched your baby and I never fired my gun at no one."

"He's not lying, Belcoure. He's scared and wants to return to his family." The Doctor stepped forward. "If it was one of the adults, I might be convinced to let you add him to the others, but Danny is young. He's scared and needs help. May I bring him inside?"

"You may, but he will be guarded until he proves himself to be true," Belcoure said. "You return in time for midday meal. Where do you wish to dine, Doctor?"

"Well now, I think it's probably for the best if Danny and I return to my nest and eat there," the Doctor said. "That way he can be guarded easily and I'll be easy to find. Thank you, Belcoure, this means a lot to me."

"Does he bring weapons?"

"No sir," Danny said. "Not even my knife. I left everything back at the camp and I don't plan on ever going back there again."

"He won't hurt you, Danny," the Doctor said. "Not unless you threaten one of the dragons. Come on, he's going to lead us to lunch and then back to the area they have been letting me sleep."

"Doctor, sir, what did you mean by adding me to the others?" Danny asked as they walked into the darkness of the cavern network.

"Oh, yes, that. The dragons haven't killed anyone they've taken captive from the camp, Danny. All the people who have gone missing, well, unless they found those nasty plants you warned me away from, are still alive," the Doctor said. "I'm going to go and talk with them later. I don't know when, there's so much that I still have to do here before I can even think about going to see them, but I will go and see them. And Mick. I think I'm due a long talk with Mick. I also wouldn't mind a word with the man who shot me."

Danny looked a little stunned at the rambling speech. "I forgot about that. You should be dead."

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly human so it's harder to kill me than people realize," the Doctor replied with a small smile. "That's not to say it didn't hurt me, but a single bullet? Only if I was tired of living, and that's not likely to ever happen."

"Help yourselves to food," Belcoure rumbled.

"Thank you, this looks lovely," the Doctor said. "Oh, roast meat and greens. Lovely balanced diet. Did you pick the greens just for us, Belcoure? Or do your people eat them as well?"

"Sparingly, we eat them. Game makes up most of our diet," Belcoure said. "Some of our clans fish."

Danny glanced up. "Clans? There's more than just you here?"

"Yes, humanling, there's clans across the planet," Belcoure said. "We came here many centuries ago and found this world to be perfect for our needs. Some dragons fish, some hunt, and some raise the young. All we desire is to be left alone to live as we always live."

"Not so different from humans, are they, Danny?" the Doctor asked. He handed the teen a stone bowl with meat and greens in it. "There's water to drink in my nest area. Belcoure, I must admit I didn't realize that your clans were planet-wide. I should have. For that, I apologize. We need to get the humans to leave. No mining on this planet at all."

"But Doctor, sir, there's heavy equipment on the way," Danny said as they followed Belcoure back out into the wide hall. "With more men and they're planning to set up a huge outfit here because of all the gems and metals and things."

"Are they now?" The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking. "Danny, I think you'll be able to help more than you realized. Are you willing to tell me about the company you used to work for, what their plans are, and what's been going on down in camp?"

"Sure. But why?"

"Know your opponent," the Doctor said. "Strictly speaking it's know thy enemy, but I don't think that Mick and the others are at that level. Not yet."

Belcoure paused outside the cave where the Doctor was sleeping. "I shall remain here on guard, Doctor," he said.

"Thank you, Belcoure," the Doctor smiled. "I should know what we're going to be doing by late meal tonight. I'm good at coming up with plans, even if they don't always stay the same while I'm working with them. Flexibility. The best aid to a plan ever."

Danny didn't know what to think about the man with the bow-tie and blood-stained shirt on, but had a vague feeling that this mysterious Doctor was his best chance to see his family again. He knew that if he tried to go back to the camp, to go near Mick or one of the others again and he'd be shot for deserting. They didn't like deserters.  
***********

Rory left the nursery, following Donia back up to the cave area and paused when he saw another human in with the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"Oh, Rory, there you are. How's little Melconia doing?" the Doctor asked.

"She's fine, sleeping a lot, but her mother and I had a nice chat," Rory replied. "I told her about Amy, and I think I feel a little better now. I'm still scared to death for her, but I also know Amy. She's probably whipping wherever she landed into shape right now, isn't she?"

"I have no doubt that's true, Rory. We'll find her," the Doctor said. "I promise. Right, now, this is Danny. Danny Mitchell, this is my friend Rory Pond. I think you've met him before."

"He said his name's Rory Williams."

"Yeah, long story that," Rory said. He sat down next to the Doctor and looked at the teenager. "Danny, you were part of the team that caught me at the TARDIS, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

"He's run away, Rory."

"Oh, good for you," Rory said. "I suppose, especially finding the Doctor. What's going on down in camp?"

"The news is not good, Rory. The humans are the spearhead for a mining corporation. They land and set up the basics while waiting for the heavy mining equipment and people to arrive," the Doctor said. "Then this group pockets their fee and moves on to the next planet and starts all over again. We have a day at most before the new people get here. A day to stop a war."

Rory snorted. "Doctor, I've seen you work with less time than that," he said. "You've got a plan by now."

"Yes, a plan," the Doctor said. "Well, I have a thing. It's not as good as a plan, but it's a start and can grow into a plan given new information and data."

"Well, a thing is better than nothing," Rory agreed. "What about paying a visit to those men the dragons captured and have in holding? You might be able to learn more from them and turn your thing into a plan."

"That is on my to be done list, it's like a to do list, but cooler," the Doctor said. "But first, I need to get the TARDIS back. I think she's been on her own long enough. Rory, you stay here with Danny. The dragons are only allowing him to stay as long as he's with one of us and guarded. I'll be back whenever I make it."

"Be careful," Rory said.

The Doctor nodded. "I will. Danny, tell Rory about your family. Especially your sister who looks like a dragon."

Rory looked startled. "You have a sister who looks like a dragon, Danny?"

"No, but he seems to think I do. Rory, is the Doctor sane?"

"Mostly."

"How can you be mostly sane?"

"Doctor, if you're still listening, I'll tell Amy you're eavesdropping again," Rory said. He waited for a minute. "Okay, he's really gone, because he would have said something if he wasn't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Amy threatened to disembowel him if she caught him eavesdropping on anyone ever again."

"She'd have to catch me first," the Doctor said, poking his head back into the cave. "Hah, fooled you that time, didn't I?"

"Doctor."

"I'll have you know I'm completely sane, Danny," the Doctor said. "Well, except for those times when I'm insane or trying to do something that is completely and utterly impossible. Though I normally manage to pull that off anyway, so it's not as impossible as it originally sounded."

"Doctor."

"And I do sometimes refer to myself as a mad man with a box, but I'm not actually mad. I have a very nice personality most of the time. Unless someone I care for is in danger, or the Earth is being attacked again or, what is it, Rory?"

"First off, rambling," Rory said.

"Oh, sorry."

"Second, TARDIS."

"Yes, yes, I didn't forget about my ship, Rory. I just forgot the stone that would warn me if I got too close to the borders of the sacred grounds," the Doctor said. "I'll be back before you know it."

Danny watched the exchange with wide eyes and eventually shifted his gaze to Rory when the Doctor had left the cave again. Rory grinned. "He's usually like that, yeah," he said. "My wife is really the only one who can keep him under control for any length of time, but she's missing right now and we don't know when she is."

"Don't you mean you don't know where she is?"

"No, when, I'm afraid. The Doctor's ship travels in both time and space, so I don't understand how it does any of what it does, but it means that we always have to work out when and where we are. It can get interesting."

"I guess it can," Danny said. "How did you meet this Doctor?"

"That's a long story. Amy, my wife, met him when she was a child and he's just sort of popped back up in our lives," Rory said. "If you had a chance to travel in all of time and space, would you take it?"

"Maybe, once my siblings are grown and able to feed themselves," Danny said. "I'm oldest and my dad's gone. Mom needs my wages to feed the others. I don't know what she's going to say when she finds out that I've run off and lost this job."

Rory patted him on the shoulder. "Danny, I wouldn't worry about that too much right now. We've got a war to stop and people to save. Jobs can come later. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help your family out. Just have faith."

"I don't know if I can remember what faith is," Danny said.

"Well, why not tell me about your family?" Rory asked. "Sounds to me like you care about them a lot and I can't imagine that group you traveled with wanted to hear about them."

"You're right. You don't mind?"

"Not at all. Come on, start with your mum. What's she like?"  
**********

The Doctor stood in the hallway not far from the cave and listened for a bit longer, wanting to make sure that Rory didn't give away any huge secrets. It wasn't that he didn't trust Danny, he could read the boy's mind after all Danny was broadcasting so clearly, but he wanted to keep a few surprises back until they were really needed. He smiled when he heard Danny start to talk about his family and left, heading back towards the surface and the woods.

"Doctor."

"Donia, how nice to see you. What can I do for you?"

"The King has asked me to fly a patrol over the human's encampment and I wondered if you would like me to collect your ship for you."

"How kind, but I'll be fine to get her back. I'm serious when I say that I don't want any dragon near the humans. Not now, not until I'm sure that they're leaving and your planet is safe." The Doctor went serious. "Donia, will you take a message to your king, please? Tell him that in a little less than a day there will be more ships landing, more humans to join this lot with equipment and weapons. I want him to issue an order for all dragons to return to their caverns and remain there until I say otherwise. Yes, I know, it's all down to him, but I have a few favors I can call in, people who should be able to help us solve this with no bloodshed. That's why I need   
my ship. To be able to send a few messages. You have first right to this planet and they are trespassing. My friends will help sort this out, but I need to know that all of you are safe. Can you remember all of that?"

"Of course. You know he'll want to speak with you when you return."

"Yes, and I'll be happy to answer any question he has for me," the Doctor said. "Now, best be off. I have a long way to go and a plan to think up. Right now all I have is ideas, and I need to figure out exactly what I'm going to do next."

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Doctor. You're famous for it."

"Sarcastic dragons. Just what I needed," the Doctor muttered as he stepped out into the sunshine.


	13. Chapter 13

"Mick! Mick!" The door to the office slammed open and Carter skidded in. Mick frowned over at him.

"I'm on the com, Carter, trying to get the heavy loaders down here. What the hell is with all the noise?"

"Danny's gone, Mick. He's gone and that blue box is all lit up," Carter said, gasping for air.

"What do you mean, Danny's gone? The kid was just here and I told him to get back to work." 

Mick pushed a button the screen on his desk. "Hank, I need to call you back. Stay in orbit for another day."

"You know the bosses aren't going to like this, Mick. What do I tell them?" a voice asked over the radio link.

"I'm dealing with monsters down here, Hank. Tell them if they want their gems then they have to wait one more day," Mick said. "We'll have a clearing for you by sunrise tomorrow." Mick turned off the communicator and frowned at it. "Just one more thing to deal with. Carter, where's Danny gone?"

"How should I know? I've been out on the edge of the woods watching for monsters," Carter said as he followed Mick out into the hall. "I came back in for some chow and happened to go past his room on the way to mine. It's been emptied, all his things are gone and no one's seen him."

"Hell, the damn kid's an idiot," Mick said. "We can't spare the men to go searching for him. I guess we just gotta assume the monsters are gonna get him and I'll think of something to tell his Momma whenever we get back." They stepped out into the slowly dying sunlight. "What about the box?"

"It's all lit up. You know how the white parts was dark when we brought it to camp?" Carter said. "Look at it now."

Mick stopped in front of the box and stared at it. Last time he stood there, it had been dark and almost as if it was dead, but now the blue box hummed with life. "What the hell happened to it?"

"I did." 

Both Mick and Carter jumped back when the door opened and the Doctor stepped out. "Ah, yes, the one who is so fast with the guns," he said. "You really shouldn't be so quick to resort to violence, you know. It really does give people the wrong impression of you."

"How the hell did you get in there?" Mick demanded. "What did you do to my guards?"

"They're all enjoying a nice nap in the sun," the Doctor smiled. "There are few things nicer than a nap in the sun. I quite enjoy naps in the sun, when I can find a planet where the sun won't roast me on contact, that is. As to getting in here, this is my ship, Mick, and I've come to take her back."

"You're crazy," Mick said. "It's just a wooden box."

The Doctor patted the door. "Don't say things like that, she's sensitive," he said. "It's bad enough you lot kicked her trying to get the doors open. Look at those scuff-marks all over her door. Do you know how long it'll take me to paint over those? No respect for other people's property, that's your problem. No, that really is your problem, Mick. You see, under galactic law, you're trespassing here and you need to leave."

Mick started laughing. "You don't seem to know much about what's going on in the universe, Doctor. We can land on whatever planet we like and take what we want," he said. "Galactic law doesn't apply unless there's other humans on the world."

"Oh dear. Dear, dear, dear. Is that really what you've been told?" the Doctor asked. "Someone has been making up rules as they go along. It's not you, is it? I would hate to have to report you for such abuse of the system, but I will if I have to. I've already contacted a few friends of mine and told them what's been happening here on the planet. Carter, do put the gun down. It won't do you a bit of good and you're really not making any friends here."

Carter fired before Mick could say anything. The bullet bounced off the force-field the TARDIS was generating around the Doctor and hit a tree. The Doctor smiled. "Haven't had to use this since I faced the Daleks last," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I wasn't too sure it would still work, such a drain on power when I'm not in flight, but it seems to be working perfectly."

"You faced the Daleks and lived?" Mick demanded. "No one can do that."

"I can." The Doctor went serious. "They have a name for me, the ancient Daleks. The Oncoming Storm. How many people in time and space do you think the Daleks fear and honor enough to give a name to?"

"You're mad," Mick said.

"Am I? Look me up in your ship's computer, Mick. Just enter in The Doctor and see what it tell you. Then search for first rights to planets and see how many years a race must live on a planet to claim it as their own, and claim all the natural resources," the Doctor said. "The dragon clans have been here for a little over 500 years. Do you research and know that if I hear those heavy lifters you have in orbit land on this planet, well, then I'll just have to stop you." He smiled. "You wouldn't like that. You don't know what tricks I have on my side, do you?" He stepped back into the TARDIS. "Think about the Daleks, Mick. They call me The Oncoming Storm. Why would they do that?" 

Mick and Carter watched the door shut and only stepped back when the box started to vanish in front of them. "Carter?"

"Yeah?"

"Did that really just happen?" Mick asked.

"Yeah."

"Daleks?"

"Yeah."

Mick swallowed hard. "I'll be in my office until dinner time," he said. "I want to see if this Doctor is just making up stories or not."  
********************

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor rested his hands on the console and just was, for a moment. He really hadn't been too sure that old forcefield generator he and Jack wired up would still work, and getting shot again and risking regeneration wasn't something that he really wanted to risk. 

He'd had to, though. Had to face the humans and talk to them. Interesting that neither Mick nor Carter mentioned the fact that the Doctor was still alive. The bullet he'd taken from Carter's gun would have killed a human within a few hours time, and yet he showed up healed and fine and no one said anything. He'd decided not to mention the other little feature of the bullet to Rory, the feature that told him what era of human expansion they were in. Nasty little things, those exploding nodes. Still, he'd come through it all fine and didn't have to worry about anything involving guns as long as he had the TARDIS with him. It would mean a trip to Cardiff fairly soon, but he could live with that. Refueling was almost literally the last of his concerns.

When the ship landed, the Doctor took a minute to stand just inside the door and listen. It was risky going up to the ships the mining company had in orbit, but the Doctor wanted a look at what equipment they were bringing in. The better to be prepared, and maybe even a little sabotage before the ships landed. He stepped out into the hold and looked around, grinning. It would be easy to do a little damage to the gear and make it so it didn't work when they first landed. Anything to buy the dragons a little more time, a little more time for the Doctor's friends to arrive as well. He'd called in a few favors with a couple of highly placed politicians. Normally the Doctor wasn't fond of politicians, they made his head hurt, but the ones out amongst the stars seemed better, somehow. More human and less animal. The lure of a new planet with new life was more than enough to get them interested, and he estimated they would arrive within two days. All he had to do was keep everyone alive, and keep that idiot Carter from shooting anyone else.

The Doctor ducked under a grinder when he heard footsteps coming down the hall towards the hold. The TARDIS was out of sight, and he was hidden well enough that all he had to do was wait until whoever it was left again, and then he could get back to work.

"Mick just com'd again," the first voice said. "Says there's some problems we need to know about."

"Like what, Hank?" a second voice asked.

"One of his team's run away. The kid, Danny," Hank replied. "Mick doesn't know what happened to put the wind up him, but he's gone missing. That's a major chip out of play, Bert. If we don't handle this just right, we could be out of jobs for good."

"Aw hell, Mick was supposed to keep that kid on a short leash," Bert said. He cursed for a few minutes. "What are we going to tell the bosses about this one, Hank? You know that Danny's the only reason we've been able to do any of this."

There was a clang from a sheet of metal hitting the floor of the hold. "I don't know, Bert. I really don't. Do know this though. I'm real happy we're out here away from the bosses delivering this news. They can't shoot us over a communication's channel."

"Get these machines working, Hank. I guess I'll go tell the bosses the bad news. Don't know what they're going say about this. Might just jump in a black hole on the way home. I think I'd rather do that than face the bosses."

The Doctor waited until he heard the door shut and then a little longer, just to make sure that he was alone with this mysterious Hank. He had questions and needed answers. With a smile, he dug around in his jacket pocket and, after a few false starts, pulled out the handcuffs he'd nicked from River Song the last time they'd met up. It was time to get some answers.  
**********

Hank wasn't sure what had hit him, and really didn't want to open his eyes to find out. One minute he'd been working on the grinder and the next blackness filled with stars. He tried to roll over and push himself up into a sitting position and realized that his hands were bound behind him with some sort of handcuff. He groaned and forced his eyes open. "Where am I?"

"Do humans really say that?" a voice asked from behind him. "I thought that only happened in movies. You're in my ship. I'm sorry I had to go about getting you here like that, the pain will go away very soon, but you see, I need answers and, as you seem to know what's going on, you've been elected to give them to me."

"Who are you?" Hank forced his eyes opened and gasped. He wasn't in the hold of the heavy equipment hauler. He was on a glass floor of some kind, in a large room with stairs and softly glowing teal lights. Bronze-colored walls gleamed as if they were just polished and a large table or console of some sort dominated the room. "What?"

"This is the control room of my ship. I would have taken you to the interrogation room, if I had an interrogation room, but I'm not that sort of a man. I've never been that sort of a man, even if I have done things in the past that I'm ashamed of, I have never once tortured another person."

Hank blinked when a tall, thin man stepped into view. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"The Doctor?"

"Yes, the Doctor. Now then, Hank, I am on a very pressing time scale and need you to tell me two things."

"You're wearing idiot clothes. I'm not telling you nothing."

"Ah, thank you. Then we can begin." The Doctor sat down near him on the floor and then his smile faltered. "What do you mean, idiot clothes? These clothes are cool."

"Yeah, to idiots."

The Doctor tilted his head to the side and then smiled. "I see. Well, that does clear a few things up," he said, rubbing his hands together. "When you say idiot, Hank, you mean someone who dares to be different. Someone who won't conform down to your bullying. Always fear the different, isn't that so humany of you. Tell me, what did you mean when you said that Danny is your key to being able to mine this planet?"

"Where'd you hear that?" Hank tried to pull against whatever was holding his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry, but you won't be able to escape from them," the Doctor said. "I got those from the best, and I still need to find the key. It's here, somewhere. Tell me about Danny."

"Go to hell."

"I've been there, several times. It's a nice place, well, if you don't mind all the fires that are always burning and the rains of brimstone ruining your clothes," the Doctor said. "Met the Devil a few times too. Lovely chap once you get to know him, as long as you stay on his good side. The right, you know. So many people get it wrong. Never stand on the Devil's left, his tail tends to swing that way and the blades on it are very, very sharp. Dangerous. I can get the answers I need from you, you know. I'm doing this the nice way."

"Kidnapping and restraint are nice?" Hank demanded.

"Compared to pillaging and plundering planets, yes. Not that I support any such tactics when sitting down with a nice cup of tea and some jammy dodgers can accomplish so much more, but you see, I'm in a bit of a rush," the Doctor said. "There are people down there depending on me to help them and I'm not going to fail them."

"Then we're on the same side. Let me go and we can take care of those monsters."

"We seem to have a very different view on what makes someone a monster. I was speaking of the dragon clans, Hank. They've lived here long enough to have first claim to the planet and all mineral rights under galactic law," the Doctor said. "Your people are the ones who need to leave. The trespassers. So far the dragons have been kind, they haven't killed. They've shown better knowledge of galactic law than any of your people have, and I wonder why that is. What's so important about Danny that lets you think that you can just do whatever you want to a planet? Oh. Oh, I see. Well then, that does change things a little, doesn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Danny told me his father has been missing for several years, but he has a sister who is just old enough to start walking and believes her to be a full-blooded sibling. So that means that his father isn't missing, not of his own will," the Doctor said. "Your mining corporation is either holding him hostage or are holding Danny hostage to control him. Now this does make things a little easier." He smiled and stood. "I think that perhaps you should stay with me for a day or two, Hank. You might learn something. Come on, lots to do."

"Doctor whoever you are, you can't do this. Let me go."

"I notice you're not denying anything, Hank. And I can do this. Now, just a short little hop down to the planet to talk with a friend of mine and then we're going on a trip," the Doctor said. He grinned. "War is about to be averted."  
**********

Rory was sitting just outside the main cavern with Danny and Belcoure, enjoying the evening when he heard the sound of the TARDIS. With a whoop he jumped up and looked around for the blue box he knew would be appearing shortly. "Oh, he did it," Rory said with a huge grin. "Doctor, you got her back."

"Yes, Rory, just as I promised I would." The Doctor looked around. "Ah, Belcoure, Danny. How nice to see you. I just need to steal Rory for a second, won't be longer than that. I promise."

"Doctor, what's going on?" Rory shut the door behind him. "Why is there a man handcuffed on the floor of the TARDIS?"

"This is Hank. He works for the mining company that Danny was a part of," the Doctor said. "Hank has been telling me some of the most interesting stories, Rory. Did you know, for example, that Danny's father is still alive and well? Well, not well, but not sick. He's just being held against his will and being forced to vote or whatever the word is now, I haven't been to talk with any of their politicians just yet, to allow humans to walk in and take over any planet they think they can mine, regardless of galactic law. The reason for all of this is just outside the door. Danny. But there's more, Rory. Since Danny left, his family has been taken hostage as well."

Rory glared down at the man on the floor. "You are so lucky you're tied up right now, otherwise I think I'd show you what happens when you mess with peoples' families."

The Doctor put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "I'll get them, Rory. I'll save them, but I need you and Belcoure to keep Danny safe in the caverns until I return. Can you do that?"

"We can," Rory said. "What do you want me to tell the King about where you've gone? I imagine you don't want to leave this guy alone on the TARDIS."

"Quite right. Tell the King that he's to capture every human he can down in those camps and keep them alive," the Doctor said. "Tell him that's very important. Otherwise they may be seen more as beasts and less as an intelligent and independent race who has rights to their own planet. Now, I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm going to save Danny's family and throw a few, oh what is the phrase, Rory?"

"Wrenches into their plans?"

"No, but that will do nicely. Rory, don't tell Danny about his family. They'll be back together soon enough, there's no need to worry him."

"Right. Well, you be careful. We still have to go and get Amy back. You do know she's going to kill you."

"Yes, well, I can't do everything at once, no matter how much I want to. Pond will be fine on her own for another day or two. I have every faith in that."

"Yeah. Right. Me too," Rory agreed.


	14. Chapter 14

Amy followed the silver cat through the grass, away from the waterfall and up an incline that would have been harder to walk if she didn’t spend so much time with the Doctor running away from things. She’d never really realized it, but she was probably in better shape now than she had been in her life. Running really was healthy for humans. Being shot at, dumped in prisons, held hostage, tied up; those things not so much, which was one of the reasons for all the running. Amy wasn’t sure how the Doctor managed to be so fast when he was so thin and didn’t have any muscles to speak of. Not that she had seen him without a shirt on recently, maybe he did and she just didn’t know it. He was fast, and she spared a few minutes to wonder if maybe he spent most of his nine-hundred plus years running. It certainly had to be good for his health. She wondered if the people of Gallifrey suffered from heart trouble in their old age. Then again, what was old age for someone who saw ninety as being a kid? For all she knew, nine-hundred was middle aged for a Time Lord. Not to mention the whole regeneration thing. How did that work   
anyway? The Doctor said that it meant he had a new everything. She would have to ask if he was always a good runner, or if that was something new with this body. 

“Wait.”

She paused and realized that, while she had been thinking about the Doctor and running, she and the cat had come up to a cleared area back in some trees, but still close to a river. The river that probably became the waterfall given how they had walked. “Okay, I’ll stay right here. Mind if I sit down in the shade though?”

The cat waved a paw towards the tree and strolled into the clearing. Amy sighed and sank down by the tree. It did feel good to sit and get out of the sun, which felt hotter now that she was away from the waterfall and that lake. She really hoped she wasn’t going to get sick from something so simple as getting wet. That would really suck and she would never, ever hear the end of it. Rory would tease her forever, and the Doctor would just smile and shake his head and look at her with those eyes that said that she should have known better than to get wet.

Amy shook her head to clear it and looked around. The clearing wasn’t so much cleared as full of grasses that had been pressed down in an almost crop-circle formation. There were no houses, huts, or any other sort of dwelling that she could see, and wondered why the cat had brought her here. It wasn’t like she really understood the cat anyway, and wondered if maybe she had been giving the creature a little more credit than she should have.

The sudden appearance of a human startled her back to her feet. “Uhm, hi there.”

“You’re a stranger to this world,” the human said.

“Yeah, kinda got here by mistake,” Amy replied. “Listen, I was trying to fish and this cat took my catch away from me. Do you know anything about it?”

“The green fish are deadly,” the human said. “Silverester saved your life.”

“I wondered if that was what he said. Do you know why he brought me here?”

“There is a storm coming tonight and Silverester wanted you cared for. Come with me. We do not get many visitors to our world. It would be a pleasure to have you join us for a meal and conversation.”

Amy smiled. “That sounds wonderful,” she said. “I’m Amy Pond. What’s your name?”

“I’m Tonity. Come, we have houses built back a short distance in the trees. There we have food that is safe and water to drink. You can tell us how you came to be here, Amy.”

“Yeah, it’s a long story,” Amy said. “I’ll do my best to fill you in, but I’m not sure how much of it you’ll believe.”

“Belief is relative,” Tonity smiled. “First, we shall dine. Come.”

There was something a little odd about the man, but Amy couldn’t really put her finger on it. Maybe traveling with the Doctor had made her a little more sensitive to when people were lying or putting on a show. The cats, however, were known to be relatively peaceful and helpful to all, so she didn’t know what was causing the unease. Maybe it was the man’s smile. It looked more like a snake than a cat. Amy decided that she would have to be on her guard until she was sure there was no danger around. Danger wasn’t always relative.


	15. Chapter 15

Talk to the king. The Doctor made it sound so simple, but Rory wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about going back into that great cavern alone to have a one on one talk with the king of the dragons. Shaking in his boots was probably about as close as he could come to putting it in words. The other dragons were dangerous, they all had fangs and talons, but at the same time, Rory got the feeling that they wouldn’t use them, wouldn’t attack unless the clan or the babies were in danger. Hell, he didn’t even know if any of them could breathe fire. Not that he really wanted to find out, mind. They were scary enough as they were. The king of the dragons though, he gave off a feeling of beyond dangerous. Like he would attack given the slightest provocation, and Rory really hoped he wasn’t about to hand one over. Things on the planet were tense enough, and he really, really didn’t want to start a war.

“Rory, where is the Doctor?”

To be on the safe side, Rory knelt and bent his head forward to show his respect for the white dragon across the room. “He’s away on a mission to stop the threat of the humans down in the valley, King. He asked me to come talk to you and pass along a request.”

“Speak.”

“He wants you to capture as many of the humans down in the camp as you can, alive, unharmed, and add them to the ones you have already taken,” Rory said. “He said that there are others on their way and taking out the men already on the planet will make it harder for those in orbit to land.”

“Alive and unharmed. That is easy enough to do, though some might be harmed attempting to evade capture,” the king said. “Will you be willing to treat them should the need arise?”

“Of course. It would be my pleasure to help out in whatever way I can. The Doctor says that the humans have to be taken alive to show that you are an intelligent race who deserves to be included in the list of sentient beings in the universe.”

The King’s head dipped. “If we were to kill, we would be beasts. The Doctor and I see eye to eye on this matter,” he said. “I am loathe to kill anyone, Rory, as are my people. We want nothing more than to be left alone to live our lives as we choose.”

“Just what any species wants, or almost any species,” Rory said. “I’ve met some who want nothing more than to kill.”

“As have we all,” the king said. “I shall speak with my people and we will strike at once. What of the young human we have here?”

“Danny’s a victim in all of this, King. The Doctor asked me to keep him safe here in the caverns. We fear that the humans down in the camps might try to hurt Danny if they see him before this is all settled for good.”

“Then protect him we will, as we would any youngling. Thank you for coming to speak with me, Rory,” the king said. “We will call upon you should we require your aid for the humans we capture. Now, a question. What if the ships in orbit should land?”

“The Doctor didn’t say,” Rory said. “So I guess we should just stick to this plan and keep capturing until he gets back. Do you have enough space to put this many humans in holding until the Doctor is back?”

“Where did he go?”

“To free some prisoners who are being used as leverage. Children. He’ll be back as soon as he has them free and is able to bring them back with him.” Rory sighed. “It seems that there is more behind this mining group than we first thought.”

“With no offense meant, Rory, it seems that is how humans always are,” the king said. “Always hiding their true intentions behind plots and schemes. It is yet another reason we fled before them.”

“None taken. I know humans better than you can know,” he said. “Thanks for your time and help, King. I’ll keep Danny in the cave area you gave us when we first arrived.”

“We shall let you know when it has ended,” the King said.  
**********

Rory went back to the cave nest area he had been sharing with the Doctor and found Danny there along with what was likely their dinner. He still wasn’t sure what sort of meat they were eating, didn’t want to think about it too much, but it was still one of the better things he’d eaten while traveling with the Doctor. Rory wondered if the dragons didn’t have some sort of a spice rack hidden somewhere to give the meat it’s flavor. The sad thing was, he didn’t have the nerve to ask.

“What’s going on?” Danny asked when Rory was sitting across from him.

“The Doctor found out a few things about the mining company you worked for, Danny, and has gone to take the information to people powerful enough to take care of the problems for good,” Rory said. “In the meantime the dragons are going to make things a little harder for the ships out in orbit by capturing the rest of the people down in the camp.”

“They’re going to attack?” Danny asked going pale.

“No, no, not attack at all. They’re going to nab the people and take them to whatever sort of jail or holding area they’ve got here on the planet until the Doctor gets back,” Rory replied. “I’m a nurse, Danny, and I’ll treat anyone who gets hurt by this move. We just want to keep those ships up in orbit as long as we can.”

“They won’t like it. Those ships up in orbit, they carry more weapons than we do.”

“Anything that can go from orbit to ground?”

“Not that I know about, but I’ve never really been on one of them before,” Danny said. “They’ll come in shooting though. I do know that they have some sort of long range weapons system on them.”

Rory nodded. “Will they be able to go back up into orbit once they start making a run to land, or are they committed to landing once they’re in a planet’s atmosphere?”

“Committed. The thrusters aren’t powerful enough to break out of a planet’s gravity unless they’ve got the ground behind them,” Danny said.

“So we’re looking at one fly-over attack, maybe two of we want to be pessamistic about it,” Rory said. “That’s better than I was expecting. Belcoure, you’ll tell the king about this?”

The passing dragon looked into the cave. “I will, Rory. We go now to capture the humans. Is there anything else we need to know, Danny?”

“I don’t know. They always kept me out of anything important. I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

“Neither do I, Danny. None of us do,” Rory said. “Belcoure, you guys should probably be ready for some nasty surprises and take extra care when trying to get to these humans.”

“We will. Remain here until we return, Rory. We shall leave a guard on the main entrance to the cave, and the nursery remains guarded. If the humans break and run, and make it this far, go down there. You will be protected as well.”

“Be careful, Belcoure.”

“You as well, Danny.”

Rory sighed. “I hate that it’s come to this. I hope the Doctor gets back here soon.”

“What if he doesn’t? What if he gets back here too late to do anything?”

“Then we’ll just have to fight on as best we can, Danny. But if there’s one thing I know about the Doctor, he normally gets to where he needs to be just when he needs to be there. It’s a talent.”

“I sure hope so,” Danny said.  
**********

Mick sat at his desk and read through any article he could find on the ship’s computer about the Doctor. The Doctor looked human, acted human most of the time, but he wasn’t a human. He was a Time Lord. One of the mythical beings who vanished out of time and space hundred upon hundreds of years ago. The Doctor battled Cybermen, Daleks, Sontarans, and any other nasty who threatened life in the universe. There was no way to know how long the Time Lord had been alive because he was able to regenerate, use the magic of his people to change his form and continue on. Conservative estimates put him at a thousand years old. Mick looked down at his hands and realized they were shaking. He wasn’t a man prone to hysterics or fear, two of the reasons he headed up the mining company’s recon team. The reason he was given control over Danny. Having researched the Doctor, however, was enough to make him want to lock himself in his office and order the ship to return to space. Tell his bosses that the planet was   
a loss and they should just forget about it.

Unfortunately that wasn’t an option. Mick knew exactly what his bosses would do to him if he even tried to call off the operation. If only they hadn’t sent off the estimate of mineral wealth in the ground, how much the planet was worth, then maybe he would have stood a chance of calling everything off. Once the bosses saw those numbers though, they were committed. Mick and his people had to stay until the heavy equipment was in place and ready to be put into full operation. 

He was about to open up a com channel with the ships up in orbit to see if they would be able to relay a message to the mining headquarters when screams from the camp reached his ears. Dreading what he would find, Mick ran out and froze just outside the ship that housed his office. The dragons had apparently decided that they were tired of waiting and were attacking the camp. “Get into the ships!” Mick yelled to his people, trying to catch their attention. “Get inside the ships.”

A deep blue dragon swooped down low and picked up two people before taking to the air again. One by one the dragons collected the panicked people and carried them off to an unknown location. Mick noticed Carter lying near where the Doctor’s ship had been put and ran over to him. “Carter?”

“They came out of nowhere,” Carter replied, holding onto his leg tightly. “Everyone’s gone, Mick. We’re the last two. Those monsters took everyone.”

“Why not us?” Mick asked looking around.

“Maybe there weren’t enough of them,” Carter said.

Mick was about to reply when Carter looked up in the air and screamed. A large black dragon, one of the largest they had seen since landing on the planet, landed near them and grinned. “Don’t fight it, Carter,” Mick said. “Maybe it’ll keep us alive if we don’t fight.”

“I got no fight left, Mick.”

They were both left frozen as the dragon picked them up and took to the air, leaving the ships scattered around the clearing, blocking all the land that was open for the heavy equipment ships to use. In one attack, the dragons managed to collect all the people and stop the immediate threat from above. Belcoure made a circle over the camp to be sure there was no place a ship could land, even with a vertical landing system. He grinned and followed his people, holding Mick and Carter in his talons. The Doctor would be proud.  
**********

“Rory?”

“Yeah, I’m in here, Belcoure. What’s wrong?”

“There are humans who need your aid,” the black dragon said. “Will you come tend to them?”

“I’ll need to make a stop by their camp to gather up some medical supplies, but then I’m all yours,” Rory said.

“Then let us go. Donia will remain with Danny until we return.”


	16. Chapter 16

The Doctor did his usual rush around the console to set the controls to take them to the planet where the mining company was located and then sat down looking at Hank. “So, now that we’re on our way, tell me, what do you do if you want to mine a planet that is populated with humans?”

“We employ them as a workforce,” Hank said.

“Employ.” The Doctor studied him for a long moment. “Is that another way to say that you enslave them and force them to mine for you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“How much do you pay them for their work?” the Doctor asked. “What if they don’t want mining on their planet? What do you do then?”

“I told you, we can mine any planet we want.”

“And I don’t understand how you can do that while staying within galactic law,” the Doctor said. “I think that maybe we need to take a short side-trip before we go to see your bosses. I would take you to the Shadow Proclamation, but they’re probably still mad at me for refusing to help them start a war. So that leaves us with a pair of politicians on Earth. Have you ever been to Earth, Hank? Back to the original home of the human race?”

“Of course not. I’m not important enough to do that.”

“Then this will be a treat for you, well, it would be if you were going to be able to go outside the political buildings,” the Doctor said. He stood up and went back to the console to change the settings. “Back to Earth we go.”

“I don’t know what you think you’re going to be able to do,” Hank said. “How do you think your friends are going to react when I tell them that you kidnapped me? What do you think they’re going to do then?”

The Doctor grinned. “They’re used to me being rather odd, Hank. They won’t see you until I’ve had a chance to explain the situation and find out what they’re willing to do to help me, if anything,” he said. “If they won’t help, well then, I’ll just have to manage on my own, like I always do. Now, I think it’s time for you to be quiet and let me think. I need to figure a few things out, Hank, and having you talking to me won’t help at all.” The Doctor went over and knelt down next to the bound man, taking his head gently in his hands. “I’ll wake you up when I need you again.”

Hank’s eyes closed and he showed every sign of being asleep. The Doctor smiled sadly and placed the man’s head down softly. “Taking over planets and encouraging slavery. The dark side of the human empire, I suppose. Not for much longer though. Not for much longer at all.”  
*************

The office was quiet, special protective synthetic glass blocking out not only radiation from the sun, but the noise and pollution from outside as well. It was one of the perks of working in galactic politics. The office buildings were tall enough that most rose above the pollution clouds in major cities, giving views of the sky and shuttles that flew past, without having to dwell on how depressing the planet had become.

The man behind the desk was working on the computer when he became aware of a noise. A familiar noise, one that was out of place in the office. He looked up, surprised, just in time to see the blue box appear in the back of the room. Right next to the drinks area. He took a deep breath and stood. There went all his hopes of avoiding the conversation that was coming. “Doctor.”

“Ah, Pierre, how lovely to see you again. How have you been? Keeping well? How’s the family?”

“I’m fine, Doctor, fine. So are my wife and kids. My eldest just went into college and is off studying stars in the next system. He’s such an adventurer. I don’t know where he gets it from,” Pierre said. “Sit, sit. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Thank you, but no. I’m on a tight schedule and really must dash off as soon as I know one thing.” The Doctor stepped in closer to the politician and looked into his brown eyes. “Tell me what you know about the Beta Mining Corporation and it’s policies.”

“Not much, they are mainly under another division of law, so they are watched over by Peta’s department,” Pierre said. “You must remember that human rights are my main concern.”

“Yes, of course, which is why I came to you in the first place,” the Doctor smiled. “I have reason to believe, based on recent experience and information, that the Beta Mining Corporation is acting outside the bounds of galactic law.”

Pierre tried not to flinch, but knew that a man as observant as the Doctor would see the movement anyway. He was never sure how a man could be so young, act so crazy and stupid, and yet be a Time Lord. The very thought still made him slightly weak at the knees. One of the lords of time. A legend. It was one of the reasons he always made sure to help the Doctor however he could. One heard stories. On the other hand, the money and favors from the Beta Mining Corporation were very good.

The Doctor sighed. “I see. That answers my question very nicely. Human rights for humans only,” he said. “No rights at all for people who have lived on those planets for hundreds or thousands of generations. Just for humans. The Second Great Human Empire indeed. I came here hoping that just one person might be willing to stand up for the people on the planets being invaded by this mining company, but I see I was wrong. No, Pierre, don’t push that alarm.” The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the desk. “I think that maybe you need to experience the universe for yourself, rather than through computer documentation.”

“Doctor, you can’t do this,” Pierre said, trying to find a way out of the office. He saw centuries in the Doctor’s eyes. Centuries and sadness.

“I think you’ll find that I can,” the Doctor said. “Although River is going to be very upset when she realizes that I have her full collection of handcuffs. She might not speak to me for centuries. Come along quietly and without fuss, Pierre, and I’ll let you stay awake. Otherwise, I’ll knock you out like I did my friend from the mining corporation. You see, slavery is wrong. Piracy is wrong. Looking the other way while pocketing money and favors is wrong. I’m about to make humanity sit in the corner and take a time out.”


	17. Chapter 17

Amy had kept a close eye on her companions as they walked through the wooded area, and felt her unease growing. There was something very wrong about all of this, and she wasn’t sure what it was. The Doctor had assured her that the local teleports were perfectly safe, the best way to get to the falls where he wanted to show them something awesome or awe-inspiring, it was hard to tell with him some days. She remembered getting into the teleport and then ending up in the middle of the field with no signs of technology around. Just poison fish, a cat that could talk and a human who sounded more like a monk from a movie than any person ever should. Amy wished there was a way she could pick up a branch and carry it with her, and then had an idea. She watched the ground closely and then fell with a cry.

“Ouch!”

Tonity and Silverester both froze and looked back. “What has happened?” Tonity asked.

“I think, ow, oh, I think I just sprained my ankle,” Amy said, holding onto it tightly. God, she hated acting like a girl, but it did come in handy at times.

“What can we do?” Tonity asked.

“Help me up. Maybe it’s not bad and I’ll be able to walk on it,” Amy said. She took the offered hand and stood up, careful to keep her weight off of her left ankle for a long moment. “Okay, just, just give me a second here.” Amy swallowed hard and closed her eyes, slowly and carefully lowering her left foot to the ground. “Ouch. Yeah, okay, not happening without some sort of support. Do you see any branches around I could use as a cane? Maybe something I could tie to my ankle for support?”

“I will look. Wait here with Silverester.” The man helped Amy back to the ground. She lay back and propped her foot up against the tree, as if to keep it elevated.

It was a weak plan, as far as plans went, but it let her rest for a minute and might even give her a weapon to hand. She closed her eyes and did the best she could to look as if she was in pain. Amy wasn’t too sure how easy it would be to fool the cat, but she had to try.

“Here, will these work?”

Amy opened her eyes and saw that Tonity was back with a large stick that was fairly straight and four shorter ones. “They might. Let me try something here.” Amy took off the scarf she was wearing and used it to tie the sticks to the outside of her boot like a splint, one that wouldn’t work worth a damn if she was really injured, and then winced. “Sprains. They hurt worse than anything,” she said. “I think that’s tight enough. Tonity, would you try helping me up again?”

“Are you sure? I could carry you if the pain is too great.”

“Thanks, I might take you up on that,” Amy smiled. “Lets try this first though. It’s what my husband always says to do for a sprain. He’s a nurse, so he should know what he’s talking about.”

She took the offered hand and shifted back to her feet, again keeping her weight off her left until she was fully upright. Then she carefully lowered the foot and shifted her weight over. “Ouch. It hurts, but I think I can live with it if we’re not going too much farther on?”

“Take this and lean on me.” Tonity handed over the large stick and moved to her left. “I’ll take as much of your weight as I can.”

“Thanks. I feel like a right idiot doing that,” Amy said as they started moving again. “I’m just not used to being out in the woods.” 

“Roots and thorns hide with great skill in all things,” Tonity said. They continued along the path in silence, Amy not sure how to respond to that remark. After a few more minutes, she could hear a murmur of voices getting louder and realized they were heading into a proper village of some sort.

Silverester darted ahead, moving with speed that surprised Amy, and the small fire of worry that had dogged her since she met the pair flared up. She didn’t know what she was walking into, but had an idea that it wasn’t going to be good.

“Why can’t I ever meet anyone nice on these trips?” Amy asked when she stepped into the clearing and was greeted with spears and arrows. “Okay folks, what’s your problem?”

“We need a sacrifice to the moon,” Tonity said. “A woman with a head of fire doused with water to bring the moon into it’s proper allignment.”

“Okay, first of all, anyone who dares to throw water on me is going to get a kick that he will never forget,” Amy said. “Not to mention that he can forget about ever having children because I’ll kick so hard everything’s going back up. You got that?”

“But we are armed and you are not,” Tonity said. “How can you fight?”

“You’d be surprised what I can do, baldy,” Amy said. She ducked behind him and grabbed him around the neck with the walking stick. “I’m walking back out of here. You shoot an arrow at me, you get him instead. There’s your sacrifice, boys.”

“There are men behind you,” Tonity said.

“I’m sure there are, but you see, they make a move towards me, I kill you, Tonity, so I suggest they just stay back until we’re in the woods again.” Amy paused when she heard the hum that meant the TARDIS was about to arrive. “Oh yeah, great, now he shows up. Doctor! You get out here now!”

The villagers all dropped their weapons and ran when the TARDIS materialized next to Amy. The Doctor opened the door and poked his head out. “Come along, Pond. Well, this is new. Who’s your new friend?”

“This is Tonity. He and his mates were about to try and sacrifice me to the moon or something,” Amy said. She gave the man a good whack on the shins and pushed him over. “As for you, Doctor, you want to explain how the hell I got here in the first place?”

“All in good time, Amy. You see, we have to go and free some slaves, stop political corruption and prevent a war between human and dragon,” the Doctor said. “So come along. I need help I can trust, and Rory is back with the dragons helping there.”

Amy stalked into the TARDIS and slammed the door shut behind her. “Doctor, why are there two men handcuffed to the railings?”

“That’s Hank and that’s Pierre,” the Doctor said. “The handcuffs belong to River. Please don’t tell her I borrowed them. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Okay, that’s who and how, now give me the why.”

The Doctor pushed the lever that sent them back into the Time Vortex and grinned. “Hank belongs to the mining group that’s invading planets, enslaving their people and taking all the goods that are mined there,” he said. “Pierre is a politician who likes his kick-backs from the mining group more than he likes the law.” The Doctor straightened his bow-tie. “I’m about to show them both the error of their ways, but as I said, I need help that I can rely on. That’s where you come in, Pond. You’re going to watch my back.”

“What are we getting into this time, Doctor?”

“Who knows? We have to save the family of a young boy who is back with Rory too. I thought that should be our first task. Then we’ll drop them off with Danny, let them have their reunion and ask the dragon king to protect them while we stop the war and end this vile spread of slavery for good. What do you say?”

“Sounds good to me. What are we waiting for?”

The Doctor’s grin melted into a wild smile. “That’s more like it. Geronimo!”


	18. Chapter 18

He wasn't sure what to expect when he was put into a rather deep hole, but the rest of his people certainly wasn't on Mick's top ten list. Everyone the monsters had taken was in the hole, scared but alive. "What the hell?" Mick asked, looking around.

"We don't know, Mick," Sket said. "They just put us in here and left us alone. They bring food and water twice a day, more if we ask for it, there's a place for all the waste materials way off in the corner so we don't have to live with it. Hell, I've been in human prisons that have worse conditions."

"We thought you were dead," Mick said. "All of you. We thought they'd killed you."

"They watch us, make sure we're not trying to escape or anything, but that's all," Sket said. 

"What about you. What happened at the camp?"

"Mick, we got some wounded over here," Tank called.

"Aw, hell," Mick groaned, running over to where Tank was kneeling by Carter and a few others. "What happened?

"They panicked when the monsters turned up," Tank said. "I can't tell if anything's fatal or not. How do we know?"

Before Mick could answer, a large black dragon, the one that had brought him to the prison hole, swooped into view and landed once there was a clear space. "You," Mick managed.

"Me," Rory agreed. "Belcoure says there's some injuries that need tending to. I'm not a doctor, but I have a lot of medical training. Need some help?"

"What are you doing with them?"

"Helping." Rory pushed one of the boxes he'd been carrying into Mick's arms and crossed over to Carter. "Looks like you've got a couple of broken bones, Carter. Belcoure, can you ask one of the others to drop down some sticks and vines to make splints out of? About the size and length I had for Melconia would be great."

"Anything else, Rory?" Belcoure asked.

"Water and, well, I guess we can use their clothes for rags if I need to," Rory said. "So water, sticks and vines. Thanks, Belcoure." He turned back to Carter. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No, just my leg," Carter said.

"Well, we'll get that taken care of just as soon as my friends get back," Rory said. "Let me look at the others and then I'll be back to splint you up."

"Why are you doing this?" Mick asked.

"Because they're hurt and I can help them." Rory pulled out the little pen light he had taken to carrying with him at all times, the Doctor not always landing them in well-lit areas, and used it to check a man's eyes. "Concussion. I can't tell how severe without equipment, but someone needs to keep him awake for the next 24-hours, or wake him up every hour and talk to him. Let me know if the confusion gets worse or better."

Mick trailed along behind Rory as the other man checked every single one of the wounded carefully, noting who needed to just rest, who needed further care and who would have to be taken along back to the ships for more treatment. "But they destroyed the ships, there's nothing left of them," Mick said. 

"Then maybe this will teach you not to land on planets and try to pirate them away from the people who live there," Rory said. "As to the ships, they're beat up and will take some work, but they're still functional. Nel and Amy both need to go back to the medical bay or else they're going to die. I don't want to know how they managed to get hurt so badly."

"Those monsters did it," Mick said.

Rory rounded on him. "Those monsters, as you call them, could have killed every single one of your people, Mick. Tortured them. Toyed with them. You stole one of their children and tried to kill her, so you gave them every right to retaliate with violence," he shouted. "This is their home. You're the ones who came in and tried to take it all away from them, so I think you should look at those wounds again. They weren't made with talons or fangs, they were made by human hands. Some of your people did this, Mick. The dragons aren't the monsters here. You lot are."

"Then why help us?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. I can't stand by and let people die if I can help them. It's not who I am." Rory knelt down next to Carter. "Let's get you taken care of and then I'll take Nel and Amy with me. I can't promise anything, but if I was in your place, Mick, I would find out who attacked them."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Yeah, you're right. I can't. I know someone who can, though, and he'll be back soon enough. The Doctor knows what's going on here, Mick. Really going on. All the behind the scenes things you've been trying to hide. He'll be stopping you very soon." Rory tied the last vine in place. "Carter, listen to me. This will keep the bones straight until you can get to a proper medical facility. Do not try to walk on your own. Get two people to help you and only get up if you have to go to the bathroom. One of those bones was close onto an artery and walking too much, or moving too much could nick it. Understand?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Rory," Carter said. "It doesn't hurt as bad now with the splints on."

"Don't push yourself. Rest. That goes for everyone I treated. Rest, drink plenty of water and, if you think it won't make you sick, eat," Rory said. "Belcoure, could we get plenty of fresh water and some food brought to them, please?"

"Of course, Rory," Belcoure said. "Now, if you are ready, I'll take you and the two young women back to the ship camp."

"How are you going to carry three of us?" Rory asked.

"Sit between my wing joints and hang on tightly," Belcoure said. "For a short trip, you'll be safe. Just don't look down."

Rory sighed. "Why do I do these things?" He climbed up onto the dragon's back and settled between two of the large spines that ran down between the wings. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Hang on tightly."

Mick and the others watched as the black dragon took to the air, carrying three humans away from the prison hole. "Carter, did you understand a word that dragon said?" Mick finally asked.

"Nope. Just growls and rock gargling to me," Carter replied.

"Same here. So how come Rory could understand it?"

"I shot that Doctor guy clean through, Mick, and he came back like it was nothing. Maybe there's magic involved here that we don't know about."

"Could be, Carter. Could well be." Mick patted his shoulder. "You do what that kid said and get some sleep. I'm going to check on the others, ask a few questions here and there."

"You really think a couple of our boys attacked Nel and Amy?"

"They're the only two women down here. I think anything's possible," Mick said. "I'll be back when the food and water gets here."  
**********

Belcoure landed neatly between two of the ships and put the women down gently. "I'm curious why you lied to them, Rory?" he asked, once the human was back in view. "These two are injured, but not so badly that you couldn't have treated them there."

"Two women in a pit with thirty men," Rory said. "I really don't like those odds. I thought this would be the best way to keep them safe. Do you guys have another hole you could stick them in while we're waiting?"

"No, but we can take them to the caverns and put them in a nesting hole. They can be guarded there."

"That works." Rory leaned over and checked Nel's pulse. "You guys can wake up now."

"Thank you," Nel whispered with a cough. 

Amy sat up and cradled her arm against her chest. "Yeah, thanks," she said. "I really didn't like the way those guys were starting to look at us. What happens now?"

"I run a couple of tests to make sure you guys weren't just faking those injuries and then we go to your new cell," Rory said. "Just keep in mind one thing. If this was a trick to get loose to try and escape, look up."

Over the camp, five large dragons were circling. Belcoure grinned at Rory. "We take no chances with these humans," he said.

"The dragons really aren't happy with you guys," Rory said. "They're protecting their home peacefully. Which I wish more people would be able to do, really. Anyway, I'm your only hope so you want to make sure that I'm healthy. Okay?"

"We just want to go home," Nel said. "We're only doing this because the money is so good and we have families to support."

"All right, all right, sshhhh. I'm sorry, but I have to be careful. I've got a couple of others who are depending on me to take care of them," Rory said. "One of them you know, I think. Danny."

"He's alive?" Amy asked.

"Alive and well," Rory replied. "Come on, let's get the two of you patched up. Then we'll go see about dinner and maybe you guys can see Danny. If he's feeling social anyway. He's really worried about his family."

"So are we."

Rory paused and looked at them. "What do you mean?"

"Two women alone on a ship with that many men. What do you think we mean?" Nel asked. "The mining corporation paid to have our families moved from the planet we were assigned when we first moved out away from Earth to a better location. But they put such high interest on the loan that we have to work for them to pay it off, and our families are kept hostage to ensure we behave."

"That story sounds fairly familiar," Rory said. "How many others on your ships are in the same fix?"

"I don't know," Nel said. "We just stuck together and tried to avoid the men whenever we could. We're sisters."

"Well, I don't know about mining groups, but you two are fighters," Rory said. "Even as banged up as you are. Amy, here, let me look at that arm. You know, my wife's name is Amy."

"Is she here?"

"No, she's off on an adventure of her own, but she'll be back soon," Rory said. "It's a name that seems to bring a lot of spirit with it. Not broken, that's a relief, just a bad sprain. Nel, can you find some cloth and I'll make a sling for her?"

"Yeah, no problem."

Belcoure looked around. "Rory, this group, would they have information that the Doctor could make use of in their crafts?"

"I don't know, Belcoure, but I think I'll take a look," Rory grinned. "Can one of the others take these ladies back to the caverns? Keep them away from Danny until I get back. There's too much going on for me to know who wants to do what anymore."  
***********

Rory pulled out his cell phone once he was alone and called the one that the Doctor kept in the TARDIS for emergencies. "Rory?"

"Amy! Oh, thank God. When did he pick you up?"

"Just now. I'm glad he did because I was about to have to beat up some guys with cats who wanted to kill me," Amy said. 

"What?"

"I'm fine, what's up?"

"Can I talk to the Doctor?"

"Yeah, here."

"Rory?"

"Hey there. The dragons have captured all the humans have have them secured. I treated the wounded and made sure they'd have food and water," Rory said. "Danny's safe in the caves and I'm sitting in the main control room of the lead ship in the human's camp," Rory said. "Anything you want me to look up while I'm here?"

"You genius, Rory, yes. Look up anything and everything you can find on the Beta Mining Corporation and their plans," the Doctor said. "I'm just getting ready to land and collect Danny's family and then we'll be back with you."

"Doctor, about that. I met a couple of women and they say their families are being held hostage to make them work," Rory said. "Any chance you could get them too?"

"Blimey, this just grows and grows," the Doctor said. "All right, I'll do my best, but it's going to be iffy either way. They're not going to be happy we're here and it might get a bit clinchy before we're out again."

"Be careful, both of you," Rory said. "I'll have all the data files waiting for you when you get back, Doctor. Meet in the nest cave?"

"That's as good a place as any, yes," the Doctor said. "We've landed, Rory. We have to go. I'll have Amy back with you shortly. And Rory, be careful going through those files. In fact, wait for me. It's possible they're password coded and you might accidently erase something trying to gain access."

Rory sighed. "Fair enough. Can I talk to Amy again?"

"Quickly."

"Hey there."

"Amy, be careful. This is a trigger happy lot. They already shot the Doctor once, and I don't know what they're willing to do to keep their operation safe."

"I'll be careful," Amy said. "Love you."

"Love you too. And Amy, remind the Doctor to be careful too."

She laughed. "I will. Bye."

Rory tucked his phone away, thankful that Amy was back in the right timeline again and leaned back in the chair. He really, really wanted to see what the mining company had on their computers, but knew that the Doctor was right. It would have to wait. His stomach growled and he laughed. Maybe it was time for him to think about himself for two minutes and actually eat. With a grin still on his face, he went out to meet back up with Belcoure.


	19. Chapter 19

The Doctor waited for the TARDIS to finish materializing and studied the monitor. It was always slightly trickier to land on a space station than on a planet, and he wanted to make sure they were in a good place where the TARDIS wouldn't be noticed right away. It was one thing dealing with men who were willing to condone slavery to earn money. As much as the Doctor hated it, many paths to the stars were paved with slavery and he knew he wasn't able to free them all. He did his best, whenever he encountered it first hand - such as with the Ood - and this mining group he was up against. 

"What do you see out there?"

"Blimey, Amy, don't sneak up on me like that," the Doctor said.

"Who's sneaking? You're the one millions of miles away in their own thoughts," Amy replied. She leaned up against the console. "Seriously, Doctor, what are we looking at here? What are we going to do?"

"Bring this company, this group, this corporation; whatever it is they call themselves, down," the Doctor said. "I sent out messages to some powerful friends and they were all willing to help me until they learned the name of the group I wanted to stop. Now there's nothing but silence from them all. Pierre there was my last hope, and you can see how well that turned out. My main concern now is for Danny's family. I'm not even sure they're here. This is the station where Danny was born and it's as good a place to start as any. Now, Pond, what I need from you is to stay with the TARDIS and follow me."

"You want me to follow you in the TARDIS?"

"No, I'm going to lock onto my biological signal and the TARDIS will track me on there. I'm the last of the Time Lords, Amy, there won't be any chance of losing me because the signal became confused," the Doctor said. "While I'm out there, you are going to work with the TARDIS to hack into the station's computer system and download all the information you can find on the mining group. Hopefully I'll be back soon with Danny's family." He paused when the console dinged. "Ah, there they are. All together and not far away. I just need one more thing to take with me."

"What's that?" Amy asked as the Doctor stuck a white paper bag into his jacket pocket.

"Something I haven't had in a long time," the Doctor replied. "A very, very long time. But they worked well as a distraction then. I don't see why the same wouldn't apply now. Do you have me on screen?"

Amy looked at the monitor. "Yep. Why are you shown in blue? I thought it was green for aliens."

"This is my ship, Amy. Everyone else is alien. I'm normal." The Doctor grinned. "Get to work on those computer files. I'll be back in a bit."

The Doctor checked that the other two passengers were still in the psychically induced slumber he'd placed them in and then left the TARDIS. He closed his eyes for a minute and let the map fill the darkness in front of him. Danny's family was down the hall to the left with three jogs to the right and one more to the left before he got to their room. Far more distance than he was comfortable trying to cover not knowing what the reactions to the other people on the station were going to be. For all he knew, Danny's family wasn't supposed to be out wandering the halls and just taking them out of their room would be enough to set off an alarm of some sort. Four children were a lot to move along quickly, and the Doctor could only hope that Danny's mother was in good shape.

He checked the door to the room he'd landed in for locks and alarms with the sonic screwdriver before he stepped out into the hall. There was no one around. That could be either good or horrible, and he wouldn't know which it was until something went wrong. The Doctor didn't even assume that things would go perfectly anymore, he'd had far too many centuries of traveling and interactions with others to know that things could go perfectly. The most he could hope for was a minimum of trouble and confusion.

The lack of people bothered him. It seemed that there would be at least a cleaning person or two hanging around, mopping or something, but there was no one. The Doctor bit his lip and continued on down the hall, senses all on alert for any sound at all. It wasn't until he arrived at the final intersection that would lead to the set of rooms he was looking for that he saw someone. 

The Doctor ducked back into a shadow and watched the man in robes stride past. Walking like that, he probably owned the space station or something. Definitely an important man. He waited until he was alone again, or alone as he could be with the sounds of people echoing down the hall and stepped out into the final area.

Two men, both with large stun-guns stood outside a set of doors. The Doctor grinned as he walked up to them. "Hello. Sorry, just passing through, seem to have gotten a bit lost," he said. "I'm not sure, but would you like a jelly baby?"

Both guns pointed at him. The Doctor sighed. "That used to work," he said. "Still, can you tell me if this is the Mitchell household? I have a message for them."

"Identify."

"Robot guards with guns. No wonder the old candy offer didn't work. Human beings, so uncooperative," the Doctor said. He tucked the bag away and took out his sonic screwdriver. "I'm the Doctor."

"You are not in our database."

"Really? How insulting. You really must upgrade then." He flipped through a few settings on the screwdriver before finding the one that shorted out the robots' systems. "Hopefully you'll have the chance and your owners don't just throw you out for space junk."

With a grin, the Doctor stepped up and examined the keypad next to the door. Part of it looked like an intercom system and part of it was obviously a lock. He used the sonic screwdriver to check for alarms or other nasty little surprises, and found only an alarm. An advanced alarm. If he tried to open the door, it would sound no matter what he did. He would have to have the correct combination to be able to open the door, and didn't have much time to try and work it out. The Doctor bit his lip and pushed the button for the intercom.

"Yes?"

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. I have a message for Mrs. Mitchell from her son."

"Danny. You know Danny. Momma, it's someone who knows Danny."

One of the children then. The Doctor smiled. "Yes, I know Danny. He's been worried about you, so I promised to come by and check. Do any of you know how to open this door?"

"No, only Roberts knows how to do that." It was an older voice.

"Mrs. Mitchell, hello. Roberts. Would he be a tall man in an orange robe? Walks as if he owns the space station?"

"That's him. He does own the station." Mrs. Mitchell sounded almost frantic. "What about Danny? Roberts told me he's dead."

"No, no, no. He's not dead. He's not injured. He's a very brave lad who knows how to stand up for what he wants," the Doctor said. "Mrs. Mitchell, are your children all there with you?"

"Yes, we're all here. We're always here."

"Take them and stand back from the doors. I'm going to open them, there's going to be an alarm and lots of other noises and we're going to run," the Doctor said. "Do you understand?"

"The younger children?"

"We'll carry them. How old are they all?"

"Twelve, eight, six, three and six months."

The Doctor was stunned into silence for a moment. That was five. Danny had said only four. Luckily he could carry two if one was on his back. "All right, keep them all back and ready to go. I'm sorry we can't take anything with us, but we have to move quickly. Do you understand? Before Roberts is able to get more men down here."

"I understand. But I have to bring things for the babies."

"Just what you need for a couple of days. We'll find you more." The Doctor took opened up the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the panel. "Are you all well back?"

"Yes."

"Then here we go."

The doors rushed open with a hiss of air and the alarm rang, without flashing lights fortunately. The Doctor looked into the family unit. "Hello again. Let me see, what are your names?"

"Clara, Eugene, Diana, Molly, and Frank," Mrs. Mitchell said.

"Nice to meet you. Diana, how would you like to ride on my back like I'm a horse then?" the Doctor asked. "Brilliant, up you go. And Molly, I'm going to carry you, how does that sound?" He picked her up without waiting for a reply and looked at Mrs. Mitchell. "We need to go now. My ship isn't far and we have to run."

"Children, go," Mrs. Mitchell said. "Follow the Doctor."

By some sort of luck, they were able to make it back to the room where the TARDIS was waiting before they were overtaken by Roberts and several robot guards. The Doctor knelt down to let Diana slide off his back and put Molly on the ground next to her sister. "Into the room with you mother," he said softly. "There's a big blue box. That's my ship. Don't question it, just go inside. There's a woman named Amy. She'll help you." He stood up and pulled the white bag out of his pocket. "You come one step closer, Roberts, and I'll blow up this station and everyone on it."

"I think you're bluffing," Roberts said.

"Can you risk it?" the Doctor asked. He took a step back towards the room, following the Mitchell family.

"I take bigger risks every day."

"With the lives of others, not yourself," the Doctor said. He held the bag up over his head. "I know what you're doing, Roberts. You and your corporation. I'm going to stop you."

"How do you plan to do that? We have support in the highest places."

"Simple. I'm the Doctor. Look me up." He slammed the door behind him and sonic'd the lock to buy himself a little more time. Running across the room, he almost bounced into the TARDIS and shut the door behind him.

"You were going to blow us up?" Mrs. Mitchell asked from the area just by the door. Her children were all huddled around her, eyes wide.

"No, of course I wasn't. These are candy," the Doctor said with a smile. He opened the bag and pulled one out, popping it in his mouth. "There, you see? Have one."

"Doctor, it's not time for candy," Amy said.

"Quite right, Pond, we still have to find Mr. Mitchell and bring him along too," the Doctor said. 

"Is he on the station with you, Mrs. Mitchell?"

"It's Anna, please," she said. "And no, my husband is kept on the planet below us. I don' t know where."

Amy went over to the family and sat down with them. "Anna, I'm Amy Pond. What can I do to help here?"

"Pond, there's the wardrobe. Why don't you take Anna and the children down and see if you can find some clothes that will fit everyone. I'm afraid we had to leave everything behind," the Doctor said. He glanced at the door. "That will be Roberts. Off you go then, everyone. You'll like the wardrobe. It's huge and full of all sorts of fun clothes."

"Yeah, good idea," Amy said. She picked up Molly. "Come on then, everyone. Why don't we go shopping while the Doctor works out how to find you dad?"

The Doctor met her eye and nodded. He did have a plan, but it was risky. When he was alone in the main console room, he pulled out the last pair of handcuffs he'd borrowed from River and turned them over in his hands. The monitor showed that Roberts was right up against the main door to the TARDIS. If he was quick, there was a chance he could pull off the move and have another person to help him end the spread of slavery by the mining group.

Nothing for it. The Doctor moved silently over to the door and opened it quickly. Roberts squawked as he fell forwards into the ship, and the door shut before more than one blast could make it inside. "Well now, Roberts, how nice of you to join us," the Doctor said stepping forward. "I think you know your associates over there, or at least one of them. Do you know the men you employ to do all your dirty work for you?"

"You can't do this. You can't just kidnap people," Roberts said, trying to sit up.

"Roberts, I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor said. He secured the cuffs, having had practice around River, and stepped back. "I think you'll find that I can do whatever I want when it comes to protecting the peoples of the universe. It's just that not everyone sees it like that."

"What do you want with me?"

"I want answers. A peaceful solution to the problem. People living happy, healthy, free lives," the Doctor said. "Most of all though, right now, I want you to tell me where you're holding Mr. Mitchell. I think it's time we let him rejoin his family for good."  
**********

The Doctor stood at the console and thought. He was only slightly ahead of the mining corporation and needed to do something to slow them down. Something that would put them off and give him a little more time to rescue the families of those who asked him for help. "Roberts, tell me, how many people are involved in the board of this mining corporation you have going?"

"Like I'm going to tell you anything."

"So unhelpful. You're in direct violation of galactic law, Roberts. All of you are. I have the proof. I could just take you to the Shadow Proclamation and let them deal with you," the Doctor said. "I might have to do that anyway, in the end."

"So why not just take me now and get it over with? You could wash your hands of the whole affair and leave it to the government to sort out," Roberts said.

"Yes, there, you seem to realize exactly why I don't. For you and your group to have gone as long as you are without interference for your actions, you either have board members in the highest points of government, or you're funneling money to them to look the other way. I won't leave this be, Roberts. Not now. Not knowing what I do about your actions. Galactic law states that first claim of all mining rights on any planet belong to the native peoples of that planet," the Doctor said. "You and your people go in, take over, enslave the native peoples or kill them, and claim mining rights. I can't overlook that."

"How do you know the laws haven't changed?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I know all the laws from all times and that is one that never changes," the Doctor said. "Slavery. Piracy. Never. Those are actions that I will always fight. So, it seems that you're going to be extremely unhelpful and not tell me anything I need to know, so, I think it's time you take a nap and I'll see what you can tell me then."

Roberts shrank back against the railing he was secured to. "You can't touch me," he stuttered.

"Can't I?" The Doctor smiled. "Technically I'm bending the laws, but there's no one left to enforce the laws of the Time Lords. There's only me, Roberts. I never do anything painful, never hurt anyone, but the information I need is in there and I'm going to get it. Now you need to relax."

The Doctor took the other man's head in his hands and closed his eyes, minding his shields while he slipped inside. He almost sighed when he saw what a jumble Roberts' mind was and sent him to sleep, if only to clear the mental landscape a little. Searching for the location where Mr. Mitchell was held was going to be impossible. Humans had such small, confused minds. The Doctor really didn't know how most of them managed to get along with such a limited capacity. "It's not going to work, sexy," he muttered, pulling back. 

"Doctor?"

"Oh, Pond, didn't realize you were back."

"Yeah, you called the TARDIS 'sexy' and that's always a give-away that you think you're alone, Doctor," Amy grinned. "I got Anna and the kids settled in one of the guest rooms and they're all really hungry. Any chance we can get them fed?"

"Yes, let's go ahead and return to the planet where Rory is. The dragons have been good about feeding us, and they're fond of children," the Doctor said. "I'm sure you want to see Rory again."

"What about their dad?"

"He's down on that planet somewhere and I need a fixed point to be able to find him," the Doctor said. "Right now all I have are humans with their cluttered brains and no time to search for what I need."

"Back to home base then," Amy said. "Doctor, while we're in the vortex, will you tell me what happened and why I ended up so far back in time on the cats' world?"

The Doctor smiled. "I haven't had a chance to work out what happened, Amy," he said. "Once this is over with, I think I'll go back and take another look at their teleport systems, but this seems as if it will never end. Solve one problem only to have four more pick back up."

"You always do your best work in the middle of a crisis, Doctor. I don't see why now should be any different," Amy grinned.

"Yes, thank you, Pond," the Doctor said. "Go and let Anna know that I haven't forgotten about her husband, but it's going to take slightly longer to get to him that I first thought."

"There isn't any danger in leaving him there, is there, Doctor?"

"I don't think so, but there might be. It all depends on how desperate these men are," the Doctor said. "Don't tell her that last part. Let her have some hope that she'll see her husband again."

Amy nodded, bit her lip and left the console room. The Doctor turned to the TARDIS. "All right then, sexy, we need to work through the information we downloaded from the space station's computer and see what it can tell us. Let's get to work."


	20. Chapter 20

Rory and Danny were in the nesting cave that had become their home base when Rory picked up the sounds of the TARDIS materializing. He grinned and jumped up, looking out into the tunnel. "Come on, Danny, let's welcome them back," he said heading towards the ship when no one appeared immediately.

"Is it okay?" Danny asked, following a little more slowly.

"Of course it's okay," Rory replied. He pushed the door open and was almost knocked over by an armful of his wife. "Amy."

"Oh, it's so good to see you again," Amy said squeezing him tightly. "So, what have you been up to then?"

"This and that. Oh, Amy, this is Danny. Danny, this is my wife, Amy."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Danny said.

Amy grinned and grabbed his hand. "Nice to meet you too. Come on, I've got a surprise for you. Rory, the Doctor wants to talk to you."

"Figured he did." Rory shut the door behind them all and hopped up the stairs to join the Doctor at the console. "You got his family back?"

"All but his father. I'll fetch him on the next hop out," the Doctor said. "Rory, this whole operation is far larger than I thought at first, and as much as I want to be sure it's shut down completely, it's possible that there's too many people in too many powerful places for me to make a difference."

"What did you find on that space station?" Rory asked, leaning in to look at the monitor. "Doctor, it's still in Gallifreyan."

The Doctor frowned. "Yes, of course it is, what did you expect?" he asked. 

"For the TARDIS to translate it for me. Wait, it should have been in English to begin with because it was from a human station."

"Rory, the monitor isn't showing information from the station," the Doctor said. "That's something else I'm working on while I'm in flight."

"Doctor."

"Rory, what I need is for you to take these three men I have secured here and put them in with the humans from the initial camp. I'm going to need those restraints again, I think, and would rather not have to improvise. The last thing I want is humans running around my ship."

The pair fell silent when they caught the sound of footsteps running towards the console room. The Doctor smiled when he caught sight of Danny. "Your family, Danny, safe and sound," he said. "I'll help you find a new place to live when I'm sure the threat from the mining group is gone, so you'll have to stay here with Rory for a while."

"Oh, Doctor, that reminds me. The king dragons wants to talk to you," Rory said. 

"Then that should be my next stop. Rory, you and Amy help Danny get his family settled. Belcoure should be around, it seems he usually is, good guard that he is," the Doctor said. "When I'm back from talking with the king, we'll move these three off the ship, or maybe we should do that now so I don't have to worry about them being in here while I'm gone. Yes, let's do that."

"Danny, go out and let Belcoure know that your family is here," Rory said. "I'm sure he'll help you find somewhere to stay and get you all some food. Mrs. Mitchell, there are dragons out there. They look scary, but they're harmless as long as you don't try to hurt them."

The Doctor moved forward. "Come on, Anna, I'll introduce you," he said. "I won't let anything bad happen to your family. Not here, not now."

"Dragons?" Anna managed.

Amy stepped up on her other side, carrying the baby. "Come on, I'll go too. I haven't met the dragons yet. They sound pretty cool."

"They are, Pond," the Doctor said with a smile.  
**********

The Doctor asked Rory to stay behind with Belcoure and help to get Danny and his family settled. He knew that he couldn't leave the human family with the dragons for long, but they would be safer deep in the cavern network than they would on the TARDIS or another world with the mining corporation still running at almost full strength. The Doctor hoped that his taking out a couple of the higher ups, things would be feeling slightly shakier. If all else failed, he could always gather up the ones behind the mining group and put them down on a planet where they couldn't do any harm to anyone other than their group, maroon them with enough supplies to last until they could set up a camp and force them to start over. He didn't have the right to do that, but if he was going to be forced to weight the good of the many over the few - a task he hated with a passion - then he would do it. He thought back to the two doors that showed darkness in his vision. The dark Doctor, and complete darkness. He was too hard on himself, too careful to ever end up like the Master, like the image of that dark Doctor, but he wondered if the complete darkness was an attempt to warn him about something.

"King." The Doctor knelt down in front of the large white dragon.

"Welcome back, Doctor. What news do you have?"

"This mining corporation that landed with an attempt to take over your planet, King, has done so on other worlds and succeeded," the Doctor said. "I'm trying to figure out the best way to stop them, and while I'm doing that, I wonder if you would be willing to shelter Danny's mother and his younger siblings?"

"More children harmed," the king snorted a sigh. "We will guard them carefully, Doctor. The young are the future and should be protected and taught at all costs."

"Thank you. I'll try to find them a safe home once I locate their father," the Doctor said. "The last I heard, he was still alive. I just hope that I can get to him in time. Things are slipping away from me."

"There aren't many you would admit that to, are there?"

"No. No, I have to be strong for my companions, for those who depend on me," the Doctor said. He sat down with his legs crossed and rested his chin on his hands. "There are days when it can almost be too much of a burden to bear. What do you know of my people, King?"

"Legend and myth, Doctor. We know more of you than we do of the Time Lords."

"There was so much that we did, so many laws we watched to ensure the universe was safe and people could live," the Doctor said. "Now there's just me. I know I have the right to go against the Shadow Proclamation and deal with this myself, but I would have to take one more step towards the darkness to do that. On the balance, I have Amy and Rory to watch over, take care of, and a universe to explore."

The King crawled down until he could lie down and have his head about on level with the Doctor's. "You carry a heavy burden on your shoulders, Doctor," he said. "Why can you not go to the Shadow Proclamation and ask for their aid?"

"Yes, well, about that. They asked me to lead them into war and I refused," the Doctor said. "Relations have been rather strained and they might attempt to imprison me should I land without a much bigger problem."

"How much evidence must you gather before you can go to them?"

"They're in violation of galactic law already just by being here with intent to mine without your permission, but that won't be enough. I've spoken with a few friends who have been paid off or threatened, or had their families threatened, so galactic law won't be enough to help us here," the Doctor said. "I'll need to have firm evidence of slavery, of depravation of liberty, of severe violation of galactic law and then, maybe, I can go to the Shadow Proclamation and put in a report."

"What can I or my people do to help you, Doctor? You've already shown us how to protect ourselves without killing the much weaker humans, by leaving Rory for us to talk to and examine, even if he didn't realize we were doing it," the king said. "We shall shelter any you bring to us for protection, contain those you feel need to be contained until you can do something else with them. What else can we do to help lift this burden from your shoulders?"

"Might I leave Amy and Rory with you while I go and visit a few of these planets where the mining corporation has taken over?" the Doctor asked. "They can help more here than they can with me, and I would feel much better knowing they were somewhere safe."

"Will they remain behind?"

"If I ask them to, they should," the Doctor said. "I'll need to talk with them, explain a few things, but here is the best place for them right now. I'll be moving quickly and can do much better if I don't have them holding me back. For all that they're human, my companions, I'll need to move faster and with more secrecy than I ever have before. I can only do that if they're here."

The King nodded. "To carry the burdens you do, Doctor, takes a very strong man. I can see that the legends about you are hardly accurate. There's so much more to the one called the Doctor than anyone ever says. Your friends have a safe home here for as long as they need. Rory is tending the wounded from the human camp. What of the ships in orbit?"

"Ah, yes. The ships. I'll hop up there and tell them to head home," the Doctor said. "I have one of their bosses with me. I'm going to leave him here, but maybe I'll leave a communicator with him. Short range only. I wouldn't want him spoiling my surprise."

"You will let us know if there's more we can do?"

"I will. Thank you, King. You've done so much already. I feel better just knowing that my friends have a safe spot amongst friends while I'm working," the Doctor said.

The King smiled. "You are the one helping us, Doctor. Just as you always do."  
**********

"Rory, a word in private, please."

Amy looked over from where she was playing with Diana and frowned, but didn't move. Rory glanced at her and then followed the Doctor into the empty TARDIS. "What's up?"

"I'm going to go and gather up more evidence about this Beta Mining Corporation," the Doctor said. "I want you to stay here with Amy and the others. The king has promised to look after all of you until this is over, or I can find a safe place for Danny and his family."

"I understand why I have to stay, Doctor, the humans need me to treat them," Rory said. "But why can't you take Amy with you?"

"Come with me, Rory. I want to show you something. Something that I think you'll understand better than Amy will right now."

That was unusual. Rory shrugged mentally and followed the Doctor up and into the TARDIS. "This is my private space, Rory. You'll never be allowed up in here again, not unless I bring you," the Doctor said. "My sexy girl won't allow it. This is where I keep books or mementos that are too dangerous to leave out. Things that remind me of my past, to help keep me on my path, if you like."

"Okay, and I'm guessing that Amy doesn't know about this."

"No, she doesn't. Ah, here it is. Rory, these are the Daleks. I know you've heard me reference them at least once." The Doctor handed over a small leather-bound journal. "I have wiped them out of existence five times. One of those times, I killed my people with them."

"Doctor?"

"There's a reason, Rory. I did it to save the universe. Such a cost. Two races wiped out completely, and the daleks keep returning, but my people never can. I'm the last of the Time Lords, Rory. That means there are times when I have to do things that will seem out of character, or downright evil," the Doctor said. He sat down in a leather chair and leaned forwards, avoiding Rory's eyes. "So many deaths, Rory. Pain, darkness, suffering. They seem to follow me around and impact everyone near me. That's why I want you and Amy to stay here. You'll be safe."

Rory glanced through the book. "You don't want Amy to know about this side of you," he said. "So why tell me?"

"Because you waited 2,000 years, Rory. You've seen battle, even if you don't remember it every moment of every day. That Roman soldier is still deep within you and I know that he will reappear the moment he is needed," the Doctor said. He looked up. "Rory, I chose to tell you this because it's possible that I might not come back from the darkness. I'm doing everything I can to not harm, to work within the bounds of the law, but all it would take is one slip and then I could be lost."

"You think I can bring you back?" Rory asked.

"I think that you would keep Amy safe from me while the TARDIS took you both home," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, you're not going to go dark," Rory said. He put the book down. "Looking at you now, looking at your eyes, do you know what I see when you talk about killing these daleks?"

"What?"

"Pain. Anguish. You didn't want to kill them. You did what you had to do and you're still suffering for it." Rory sat down in a chair next to the Doctor. "You might journey into this darkness you're talking about, but you'll come back. You don't like it there. The blood, the pain, the suffering. You hate it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll always be able to come back," Rory said. "I'll stay here and keep Amy safe, but you have to agree to do the same. You have to keep you safe, Doctor. Lock your good away in your heart if you have to, but leave the key where Amy or I can get to it and bring you back."

"Hearts, Rory. I have two hearts."

"Okay, that's odd."

The Doctor frowned. "No it's not, it's perfectly normal. What's odd if having one heart. How do you manage?"

"You're trying to change the subject, aren't you?" Rory asked.

"Not working?"

"No."

"Rory, I normally stay out of the minds of people I care for, but would you be willing to let me in to show you something?"

"What's that entail?"

"For me to touch your face and head, to show you a vision that I'm worried about. It came to me when I was in the healing coma, and that's rare enough. For such a puzzle to be solved, it might be that two minds working it out would be better." The Doctor smiled. "Before you ask, no, I can't share it with Pond. She's strong, so very strong, but I'd like for her to never become afraid of me."

Rory sighed. "I think it would take a lot more than a vision or this phobia you have of inner darkness to do that, Doctor, but it's your choice." He leaned back and thought hard, the Doctor giving him the space and quiet to do it. He hadn't really thought too much of how the Doctor felt towards him, beyond friendship. He knew that the Doctor adored Amy in his own way, cared for them both, but he was slowly starting to realize that the Doctor saw him as a truer companion that he originally thought. Rory never thought that the Doctor would turn to him for help over Amy, but it had happened. He didn't think he could turn it down. "All right, show me," he said. "You're going to have to give me some background though. I don't know everything that you do."

The Doctor stood and knelt in front of Rory. "Relax and let me in, Rory," he said softly. "Just pretend you're floating in a pool, that's it. You're a natural, Rory. You might even have some latent talent that you didn't know about. All right, this is the vision. The silver men are called Cybermen and they've attempted to take over the universe several times. I stopped them and destroyed them. Then the daleks. I stopped them and will stop them for however long they keep coming back. That's another Time Lord known as the Master. He went mad at some point, thought he had to take over the universe. I stopped him as well. He's dead now, truly dead. The   
beings of light I'm not sure of, but they might be Time Lords, as Time Lords would have been if they had won the Time War."

"You stopped all these people from taking over the universe and you're worried about breaking up a slavery trade?" Rory asked. He felt a little awed at everything the Doctor had done, and never received a thank you for.

"It's complicated. The man in leather there, you see him? That's how I looked before I met Amy the first time," the Doctor continued. "Time Lords don't die, we regenerate. He's dark though. Evil. Then there's the pure darkness. I have to decide what this vision means and what I have to do with it, Rory. Can you see why I'm so confused?"

Rory felt the Doctor's presence slip out of his mind and opened his eyes. "If your mind is as big as I think it is, Doctor, I think I'm starting to understand you a little better now," he said. "Look, I can't promise anything, but I'll think about it and I won't tell Amy."

"Thank you, Rory. Now then, I'll be popping in and out with people. The Shadow Proclamation might well be after me for kidnapping before this is all over, but I have a plan that might work if all else fails."

"What?"

"Force the powers that be to start over on a new planet. Possibly in the past," the Doctor said. 

"Doctor."

"I won't let it come to that, Rory. At least, I hope it won't come to that. I'm going to take the TARDIS down to the camp and access the computers there, then up to the ships in orbit. I'm hoping that, by the end of the day, they'll be on their way home with a message."

"Keep the phone with you and call if you need anything, even if it's just to talk. Amy doesn't have hers, but I'll keep mine with me," Rory said. "All between us until this is over with."

The Doctor smiled. "Amy will kill us both for keeping secrets, you know," he said.

"I'll keep her distracted." Rory impulsively pulled the Doctor in for a quick hug. "Be careful out there, Doctor. It's not just the universe that needs you."

"I'll be back, Rory. I'll set the TARDIS to call if it's not safe for you to approach me and tell her to lock me away until you're home again," the Doctor said. "Let's just hope it won't come to that."

"It won't."  
**********

Amy was waiting right outside the door to the TARDIS when Rory walked out. "Where is he?"

Before Rory could answer, the TARDIS started to vanish. He pushed Amy back a little to get them out of the wind that always came with the ship leaving. "The Doctor is going to take the TARDIS down to the human camp to access the computers and see what sort of information he can come up with," he said. "Then he's going to get rid of those ships in orbit. After that, I'm not sure. He asked us to stay here, look after Danny and help out however we can."

"You're not telling me everything, mister," Amy said.

"Amy, you know I can't keep secrets from you," Rory said. "Look, the Doctor's going to be back before we know it and you can question him then. For now, let's just do what he says."

She glared at him. "Fine, but I don't like it. He said when he came to get me that he wanted me to watch his back. Now he's off on his own doing god knows what."

"He's just gathering information, Amy. You know he'll come get us if anything exciting is going to happen or if he needs help," Rory said. "Now, I have to go check on my patients. Where are the Mitchells?"

"Sound asleep except for Danny and his mum. They're getting caught up," Amy said. "What do you want me to do while you're gone?"

"You might as well try and catch a nap. I'll be back in an hour or so and you can tell me about your adventure back in the past."

"Not much of an adventure as dull."

Rory grinned. "Almost being a sacrifice is dull, Amy? I think you're getting a little too used to this life we lead."

"Don't you forget it, Mr. Pond." She kissed his cheek fondly. "Go check on your patients. I'll see you when you get back. Maybe you can tell me what the Doctor is really up to."

"Amy, he's really up to gathering information," Rory said. "That's it."

"So what did he want with the super secret spy stuff then?"

"I don't know. He's an alien. Maybe he thinks gathering information is super secret spy stuff."

"Rory."

"Amy, I'm not lying to you. He's not doing anything. I swear."

She studied him for a minute and sighed. "Fine, but if I find out either of you lied to me, you're both in big trouble."

Rory watched her go, thinking about exactly how much trouble both he and the Doctor were already in.


	21. Chapter 21

When the dragons appeared over the large hole that was a prison to about thirty humans, the last thing any of them were expecting was to see one of their bosses dropped off along with the food and water supplies. Mick, always the leader, recovered first and made his way over to where a man in robes was looking around furiously. "Mr. Roberts?"

"Mick."

"What are you doing here, sir?"

"I have no idea. I was kidnapped from the mining station and brought here, but I have no memory of anything beyond the initial restraint and waking up in the hands of those large monsters," Roberts said. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Before Mick could answer, another voice spoke up. "You're here as our guests."

"Who the hell are you? You're human."

"Yep, I am," the young man said. "Mick, how's everyone doing tonight?"

"Mr. Roberts, this is Rory. He's been taking care of the injured for us. Rory, my boss."

"We've met, but only briefly. Sorry, Roberts, but I don't talk to slavers," Rory said. "Mick, how's Sly's head doing?"

Mick looked a little taken aback at the sudden fire he'd seen in Rory's eyes. "Uhm, he's not getting any better. We can hardly keep him awake to ask him questions."

"Damn, all right. I'll take him with me and run some tests at the ships," Rory said. "That concussion must have been more severe than it looked the first time. What about everyone else? How's Carter's leg doing?"

"Hanging in there. Sly's the one we're worried about."

"Okay." Rory left the box he was carrying and turned towards Roberts. "You really don't want to do that. Look behind you."

"Mr. Roberts, he's with the dragons and they never leave him alone down here," Mick said. "The guards are peaceful as long as you don't try to hurt Rory. He's the only help we've got. I don't care what's happened, I just want to get my people home safe."

"What's happened, Mick, as you so blithely put it, is that someone has found out about us and is going to ruin everything," Roberts said. "You're not going to have a job when you get out of here."

"I'm young and strong, Roberts. I can find something else. Something where I don't have to worry about prison all the time," Mick said. "I think most of us down here feel that way. We've just been too scared to say anything about it before."

"Too right. Well done." Everyone turned to find the Doctor standing next to the TARDIS, arms crossed over his chest. "In fact, very well said, Mick. Unfortunately you're all guilty of crimes under galactic law, but I think I'll be able to help with that. Now then, Roberts, I thought you might like a short-range communicator, but now I'm wondering if it isn't too dangerous to leave you with one. Rory, do you need the TARDIS med bay?"

"That'd be great, Doctor, thank you," Rory said. "Actually, could I borrow a couple of the portable pieces of equipment for a minute? I've got some broken bones here that I could heal and cuts to regenerate."

"Of course," the Doctor smiled. "Let me give you a hand with the one you're the most concerned about. Then I'll work with him while you take care of the rest of them."

Rory nodded and between the two of them they were able to get Sly into the med bay and onto a table. Rory looked at the Doctor. "How can you help them once this is over with?"

"They're the grunts, the paid labor, the ones who do what they're told," the Doctor said, scanning the still man with the sonic screwdriver. "It's the bosses that I want punished, the ones who knowingly went in and enslaved people. The ones who are running those planets and their bosses."

"You're dealing with a lot of money being thrown around, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately."

"Doctor, I should tell you that Amy's really suspicious of what we were doing in the TARDIS," Rory said. He tucked the last of the equipment into a tote. "I don't think we're going to get away with this for long."

The Doctor grinned. "We just need long enough, Rory. Go see to your patients and I'll take care of this one. Bad bump on the head, some internal bleeding, easy to heal. He'll be back on his feet in a day or two."

"Thanks."

Mick was waiting just outside the TARDIS when Rory appeared with the medical equipment. "Rory, I looked him up. The Doctor. Is he really a Time Lord?"

"Yep. Come on, you can hold Carter down while I'm mending his bones. It's not painless and I don't have any pain killers," Rory said.

"A Time Lord. I thought they were just myths."

"Even myths have founding in reality," Rory said. "Take this lesson with you when you leave here, Mick. It doesn't matter how much money your bosses have been throwing around, the Doctor will be able to stop them and close down the mines because of who he is."

There was a roar from Belcoure and both men looked around to see a struggling Roberts held in a black claw. "He tried to attack you, Rory."

"Idiot." Rory sighed. "Well, I guess there's nothing for it, Belcoure. Go ahead and take him to one of the smaller holes and put him there. If he won't play nice with everyone then he can sit and think on his own."

Roberts yelled when he was handed up to another dragon and vanished, still cursing and threatening revenge on Rory and the Doctor. Rory sighed. "Are there any more like him at home?"

"What?" Mick asked.

"How many of your bosses are like that?" Rory knelt down. "Hey there, Carter. How do you feel about getting that leg of your mended up properly?"

"Sounds great," Carter said.

"It'll hurt."

"It already hurts. Can't be worse than this, can it?"

Rory snorted. "It might but Mick is going to help. So, how about it, Mick? How bad are the rest of your bosses?"

"I don't know. Honest. Roberts is the one who runs the station we always leave from, the hub, and he's the only one I ever dealt with." Mick braced himself to hold Carter still. "Most of the other bosses are on the planet the station orbits, or on the moon nearby. I don't even know how many of them there are."

"That's what I needed to know, thank you, Mick," the Doctor said. "Hello Carter, hope you're feeling less like shooting everyone today."

"Doctor."

"Your other patient is being tended to, Rory. I wanted to have one last word with Roberts, but I see he's gone. No matter though, not now. Now I know where I need to go. Mick, a last question. Those ships up in orbit. Do they have enough fuel left to turn around and arrive home safely?"

"No. They're one way trips only. If they don't land soon, they'll crash," Mick said.

"Oh dear. That's not good at all," the Doctor said. "I'll have to do something about that. How long do they have?"

"Another five hours or so. Maybe six if they're lucky."

"Better than I thought. I think I can work with that. Rory, I'm going to hop up there and take care of those ships. I'll bring your patient back with me when I return," the Doctor said. "I'd like to take care of that threat now."

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful," the Doctor said. "It's just that people around me don't always know that I'm trying to be careful. If you finish here before I return, everything back to the caves with you and I'll meet up with you there."

Rory looked at him. "Are you sure you want to do this alone? Carter's the only one who needs immediate care. The others it would just make them more comfortable and less prone to infection," he said. "I can do that when we get back."

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Mick, I'm going to steal your nurse, but we'll be back. We'll probably have some more of your friends with you. Don't know that I'm going to try and save the ships though. I'll just have to see how it goes. Rory, whenever you're ready."

"I'll be there in a minute," Rory said. "Almost done."

Mick glanced up at him. "Is he always like that?"

"No. Mick, you don't want to get on his bad side. He doesn't kill, as a rule, but you really don't want to get in his way. There you go, Carter. Stay down for three hours to make sure the mending takes and you'll be fine." Rory packed up his gear. "See you guys later. Keep thinking, I like the change of heart you're showing."  
**********

The Doctor was at the console when Rory arrived, tote in hand. "Ready."

"Just a short hop up and see what we can do with these ships, Rory. I'm half expecting them to shoot first and then attempt to question us," the Doctor said, throwing the lever to send them up to the ships in orbit. "There, a nice landing on the bridge. Let me do the talking."

"Doctor, what if you get shot?"

"I can't. The TARDIS is generating a force-field for me. Old friend of mine hooked it up, well, I'm not sure how long ago it was. Two regenerations, but no clue how many years it's been," the Doctor said. "I'll have to pop in and say hello when we go to refuel."

"Can't wait to meet him," Rory said. "What, exactly, are we going to do up here?"

"Teleport if they have it. Transport in the TARDIS if they don't. Add them to our pile of people on the planet and then I'll go and take out the bosses," the Doctor said. "Oh, and Rory. If we do run into Jack, keep Amy away from him."

"What? Why?"

"Just trust me." The Doctor opened the door and was greeted by seven guns. "Oh, why can't anyone ever be glad to see me?"

"Who are you? How'd you get onto our ship? What do you want?"

"Now now, one question at a time. I'm the Doctor. I'm here to help you. I understand that you have about five hours left before your orbit decays and you crash in a rather messy heap onto that planet below," the Doctor said. "Only there's no clear place for you to land, so you're panicking and trying to figure out what you can do next, yeah?"

The men nodded, but the guns didn't budge. The Doctor sighed. "Fire if it will make you feel better, it won't do you any good, but maybe you'll see that and we can get on to the point where I save you all. How's that sound?"

"There's nothing you can do to save us," one of the men said.

"Excuse me, but have I or have I not just appeared out of nowhere on the bridge of your shielded ship?" the Doctor asked. "I would think that if anyone could help you, help all of you, it would be me. Now, are you going to trust me to help you or not?"

Rory always thought it was the bow-tie and the tweed that made the Doctor seem so unthreatening. Not that it helped in more or less every single situation they found themselves in, but for those rare times when he needed someone to listen to him, they did. Granted, sometimes they shot half-way through listening, but they at least went into it with good intentions.

"Rory, could think a little more softly, please?" the Doctor asked quietly.

"Sorry."

"Right, now then. Is there a man named Bert here?"

"How'd you know my name?" a man at the back asked.

"I know Hank," the Doctor replied. "In fact, I'm the one who took him down to the planet to meet up with everyone else. If Hank was willing to trust me, don't you think you should too?"

There was a long muttered conversation with a lot of waving of guns, but the men finally turned back to the Doctor. "What do you want us to do?" Bert asked.

"Wonderful. How many ships do you have in orbit?"

"Five."

"How many people per ship and do you have a way of moving between ships? Shuttles or transport for preference, but I would take zip lines at this point."

"We have a teleportor, but the range is limited."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Rory, do you think you could make sure everyone is disarmed while I have a look at the teleport?"

"Sure."

"What are you going to do?" Bert asked. He put his gun down on the floor and held out his hands. "That's all I'm carrying."

"Sorry, still have to check," Rory said. "We're going to take you to the planet and let you meet up with your friends."

The Doctor kicked the wall and grinned. "That's got it. Loose circuit. Bert, you're going to have to let me know if anyone is missing once I'm done. Now, how many people per ship?"

"Twenty."

"Then it's going to get a bit cramped in here," the Doctor said. "I think it'll be easier if I just teleport you all down to the planet rather than making several hops. Rory, this lot disarmed?"

"Yeah."

"Off you go then, give my regards to Mick."

Rory watched as the men vanished. "How'd you know where to put them?" he asked. "I can't imagine Belcoure or the king has the coordinates for that prison hole."

"The TARDIS helped," the Doctor said. "Now, to take care of the other ships. Then all we have to worry about is what to do with these ships." His fingers danced over the controls and Rory couldn't help but smile. The Doctor was certainly in his element working with technology, and he really did have a thing for making teleports work. "Rory, when you get back to the planet, ask Belcoure if it's possible to spread the people out a little more. I don't want them feeling cramped or trapped."

"Sure, not a problem. What about the ships?"

"I'll want to check to make sure the sun isn't sentient, but then I think they can be safely sent in there with no lasting damage to the sun or the planet," the Doctor said.

"Wait, a living sun?"

"Ran into one years ago now. It had taken over a ship and was pulling it in to try to reclaim the parts they had stolen to refuel," the Doctor said. "I'd never seen anything like it before, and learned to check suns more carefully. The TARDIS has a program installed to do just that. There's a large yellow button on the panel closest to the stairs from the main door, Rory. Go push that for me while I get the last of the humans down to the planet."

"Sure thing, but you're going to tell me more about all of this when we have the time," Rory said. 

"Amy too. You know how much she loves hearing stories."

"I'm still waiting for them to end up written down, these stories I tell her," the Doctor said absently. "Don't tell her I said that."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Rory stepped back into the TARDIS and hopped up the stairs to the main console. It took a minute because apparently large was a matter of species, but he finally found the yellow button and pushed it. That was when he was grabbed from behind and a knife put to his throat.

"Rory, have you done it?" the Doctor called from outside the TARDIS. He finished up the last of the teleports and frowned. Something was wrong. Rory should have answered him. With a frown, he ran the numbers of people teleported and came up short. "Blast it all, there is always something."

The Doctor went back to the TARDIS and stepped inside. "Ah, I see. What's your name?"

"Don't think that matters," the man holding onto Rory said. "No one messes with my job. So you're going to go down and clear us a place to land. Then maybe I'll let this one go."

"Now really, I don't think you really want to be doing this, do you?" the Doctor asked. "Rory, I am sorry for this."

"What?"

"Take off, TARDIS," the Doctor said. "Save Rory."

The room shook almost violently as the console came to life and the TARDIS vanished into the time vortex. Rory took the chance to elbow his attacker in the ribs and twist away, getting a cut on the shoulder for his trouble. Only the Doctor seemed to be unaffected by the very violent shift and was up the stairs in time to get Rory behind him and faced the man. "You really don't want to threaten my friend," he said softly. "Put the knife down."

"What the hell did you do?" the man demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The Doctor smiled and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Put the knife down so we can have a nice long chat, yeah?"

The man found his footing and lunged towards the Doctor, who grabbed Rory and side-stepped neatly, tripping the man. Rory went for the knife while the Doctor restrained the man securely. "I really must thank River for the loan of these things. They've been most helpful," the Doctor said. "Now then, let's chat. Oh, Rory, what does the monitor say about the sun?"

"Circle with three wavy lines and two dots above, clear circle, wave circle."

"Wonderful, a normal sun. The ships will crash there rather than the planet. That's one task off my list." He went to the console and started to enter in some co-ordenents. "I'll take you back, Rory, and you can finish up. Now, that's done, let's see who our friend here is."

"I'm not telling you nothing."

"Does anyone understand the use of a double negative in this century?" the Doctor sighed. "It would properly be 'I am not telling you anything.' The way you say it cancels out and indicates a willingness to talk." He sat down on the floor next to the bound man. "You don't have to tell me anything. I'll just be a moment."

Rory watched as the Doctor settled in, cupping the mystery man's head in his hands and closing his eyes. "Oh dear."

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Rory, this is Danny's father."


	22. Chapter 22

The TARDIS materialized in the abandoned human camp where the Doctor had programmed her to go. He felt her land and sat back, looking at the man in front of him. Rory leaned against the jump-seat as if his legs wouldn't hold him up any longer. "Doctor."

"Rory, I think you should leave," the Doctor said.

Mind flicking back to the vision the Doctor shared with him, Rory settled down. "No."

"Rory."

"You look like a stubborn five-year-old," Rory said. "I'm not leaving, Doctor. Not after what you showed me. How do you know this isn't some sort of random tipping point that you were warned about?"

The Doctor leaned back, obviously surprised. "Rory. I think you and I are going to have to have a long talk when this is all over," he said softly. "All right, stay. Don't interrupt. You're about to find out why it is the daleks named me the Oncoming Storm."

"Silent as the grave, Doctor."

"All right." The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment and then turned back to the man on the floor. "Mr. Mitchell. I was under the impression that you were being held on the main planet for the mining corporation. One of my next stops was to find you and reunite you with your family. So I suppose I should thank you for sparing me some effort. Now, tell me, why did you try to kill Rory?"

"You're messing with my job," Mitchell said. "No one messes with my job. Not even the Shadow Proclamation or the Judoon mess with my job."

"And what is your job?" the Doctor asked.

"To mine."

"Who tells you to mine?" The Doctor walked around behind the bound man and studied him closely. "Who gives you the order to go out on a ship, land on a planet and mine?"

"My bosses."

"What of your family? Your wife? Your children?"

"They are sheltered. Kept safe. I visit them every six months."

The Doctor leaned down. "Who tells you to enslave whole planets and bend them to your will?" he asked softly.

"My bosses."

"How do these orders come to you?"

"On the computer."

"That makes sense. In fact, that's the first thing you've said to me that is true since you started talking, isn't it?" The Doctor leaned down and pulled Mitchell to his feet. "Your bosses, your masters, they're in your head aren't they? I felt them there, when I touched your mind. They've driven you mad."

Mitchell stared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You started all of this, Mitchell. You founded the mining corporation and decided that you would just go out and mine planets without a care for galactic law. Money wasn't a problem for you, was it? There are plenty of people willing to back someone who gets the job done, brings in more money than was initially invested," the Doctor said. "But then something went wrong. You invaded the wrong planet, maybe, or called too much attention to yourself, but it was just enough for you to lose control. They've turned you into nothing more than an insane puppet, doing their dirty work for them." The Doctor looked into the man's eyes. "How could you give them Danny?"

"The boy is old enough to work."

"Old enough to work." The Doctor chuckled and Rory's hair stood on end. He recognized that tone. The Doctor was shifting into his more ancient mode, what many called the Oncoming Storm. "Old enough to become a slave." He dropped Mitchell to the floor. "Old enough to be taken out and showed how harsh life is in the universe. Showed that he has to kill to work for this corporation. No one has to kill. There are laws in place for a reason, Mitchell, and being human is not a reason for breaking them. The galactic laws were in place long before your people climbed up out of the slime and took your first breath of air."

The Doctor paced around him again, and Rory was struck by the fact that the Doctor seemed to be searching for something. He wanted to break in, to let the Doctor know that Mitchell was sick and needed tending to, maybe he could be brought back, but he didn't. Rory knew that Danny thought his father was gone forever and, after seeing the mess that was Danny's father, that wasn't such a bad thing. The family could regroup and move on. However well they could move on after everything came to light. Losing a member of the family was hard enough, Rory knew that, knew the pain that came from it, but to be brought into the middle of some sort of Intergalatic police investigation would be horrible for them all.

"I won't let it come to that, Rory," the Doctor said. "Danny and the others are perfectly safe. I'll find them a new home, a place they can thrive away from people like this."

"Doctor, is he insane or is he just acting?"

"He's still in there, if that's what you mean," the Doctor said. He sat down at Mitchell's head and rested his arms on his knees. "The man who created this mining group, who set out to break laws that are older than his race, is still buried inside his tiny skull. His new masters though, they interest me. I don't think that Mitchell knows everything there is to know about them, and there aren't a lot of telepathic races who would become involved in something like this. I think, Rory, that this is revenge."

"What, his mining company took over a planet of telepaths and they're taking revenge for it by driving him insane?" Rory asked.

"No, but not too far off the mark I should say." The Doctor looked up. "Rory, you've been gone long enough. Go on and go back to the caverns. I'm sure that Amy's going to be furious enough with the both of us. We don't need to add to it."

 

"Right. Uhm, you're not going to go all dark on this guy, are you?"

"No. I never was. Rory, I'll explain it better later, but it would take a lot more than this to drive me into the darkness," the Doctor said. "Besides, my sexy girl wouldn't let me do anything like that, would you, dear?"

Rory smiled. "All right. You be careful with this guy. I'm guessing he's staying with you until you take evidence to the Shadow Proclamation?"

"I think I will, yes. I want a chance to study his mind. The TARDIS can download from the ship computers from here and then I'll be on my way." The Doctor smiled. "You may have a chance to meet my old friend far sooner than you thought. It's almost time to refuel my beauty and he lives close by my favorite refueling point. I'm serious though, keep Amy away from him."

"I'll ask why later," Rory said. "See you soon, Doctor."

"Yes, very soon. Thank you for your help, Rory. Let the king know the threat from above is gone for the moment. I'll speak with him again when I get back."

"Right. Bye then."

The Doctor watched the door shut and sighed. "Sexy, would you please access the computers of the ships around us and find all the information you can on the Beta Mining Corporation, specifically planets they're currently in operation on," he said. "I'm going to try and find out who has done such a remarkable job of messing with this man's mind."  
**********

Rory was hot, sticky and sweaty when he got back to the caverns and wanted nothing more than a cold shower. He glanced at the sky and sighed, pity it didn't look like rain. He could just stand out in it and cool off. Maybe Belcoure could help him out with something. He'd forgotten how long a walk it was up the hill. "Rory, you return."

"Hey Belcoure, yep. Here, the Doctor wanted me to return this stone." Rory dug in his pocket and passed it over. "It really helped me a lot coming up the hill the way I did."

"Thank you, and our thanks for respecting our sacred grounds," Belcoure said. "You return just in time for a meal. Your mate is in the nesting cave you originally shared with the Doctor. Danny and his family have been put close to you."

"Thanks," Rory grinned. "I'm famished. It's been a really long morning." The fell into a slow pace back towards the nesting caves. "So, did you get all the new people taken care of?"

"We did. The King allowed the opening of another prison hole for them. Everyone is safe and watched over. Where did the Doctor go this time?"

"He's off to the ones who enforce the galactic laws, I think," Rory said. "He got the problem upstairs taken care of for you. He asked me to let the king know, but if you want to pass on the word that's fine too."

"I will let him know." Belcoure waited while Rory filled up a stone bowl with meat and greens.

"Belcoure, I've been meaning to ask. What sort of meat is this?"

"A deer," Belcoure replied. "The beast is large and armed with horns, but nothing we cannot overcome in a hunt. They breed quickly and sometimes it's all we can do to keep the population managed."

Rory doubted it was deer as he thought of it, probably just the closest translation to the word. He was curious how the translation still worked even with the TARDIS off-world, but figured it was because he had a key in his pocket. A link back to the ship that she could use to help him out. 

"Before we go any further, Belcoure, how mad is my mate?"

"Were you a dragon, I would advise you to bring her a stone for the nest," Belcoure said.

"Great, that's about what I was expecting. Thanks."

"Rory, this is likely not my place, but why is she so upset that you're helping the injured and the Doctor?"

"Long story. The short version is that she met the Doctor when she was a kid and waited years for him to come back. He did, took her on all sorts of adventures, left again. Saved the universe and by then, I had come along," Rory said. "I didn't like the Doctor at first, I saw him as more competition for my mate, but as I've gotten to know him, I find that he could be my friend too. Helping him out like I have here, I think it's brought us closer. So that's why Amy is going to be upset and jealous. The Doctor is supposed to be hers first and mine second."

"How can anyone place a hold on a Time Lord?" Belcoure asked.

"You know, that's a good point. Can I use that?"

"Of course. I'll leave you and report to the king. Will you be able to talk to him if he has questions?"

"Just give me a call," Rory grinned.

"Thank you. If I do not see you again, sleep well this night, Rory."

"You as well, Belcoure." Rory walked into the nesting cave with a grin that slid off when he caught sight of Amy. "Hey."

She was sitting against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. "That's it? Just hey? You went off with the Doctor again and left me behind, again. What is going on with you, Rory?"

"He asked for my help, Amy. I'm not going to tell him no. Not when we're trying to end the enslavement of planets. What do you want me to say to him?"

"That you want me to come along with you."

"Amy, he's got us playing to our strengths. You, no matter what you say, are good with children and Anna needs all the help she can get," Rory said. "She's lost her home, all of her belongings and everything her kids owned. All those kids have lost the only way of life they've ever known. You help by just being there. You know what it's like."

"You're better with kids than I am," Amy said.

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're the nurse. You're the one who is good with everyone. It's in your DNA or something."

Rory started through his evening meal. Maybe there wasn't a chance of a shower or bath, but if this went on much longer he was going to ask Belcoure or one of the others about a pool or river or something; but there was still supper and he was starving. "Amy, have you really looked at how those kids are around you?" he asked between bites of meat.

"What?"

"Those little girls adore you. You were there when they were saved from the bad men, that makes you their hero. How do you really think they would react if a man went near them right now? Especially a completely strange man that they had never seen before."

"Rory's right, Amy."

"Danny, stay out of this," Amy said.

"No. These are my sisters you guys are talking about. They need you, Amy. My mother is worn out and the kids have taken to you," Danny said. "They've lost so much. Don't let them lose you right now. I think they'd stop trusting everyone if that happens."

Amy looked between them. "I just want to be out there helping."

"So be here, helping," Rory said. "The Doctor says he needs to do this on his own. I think we need to trust him on that one."

"Just no more going off with him without me."

"I'll do my best, but if he comes and gets me while I'm off tending my patients then I'll go," Rory said. "We might not have time to hop back here and get you. The Doctor says he needs to refuel the TARDIS so he's conserving energy right now." Rory put down the meat and started on the greens. They tasted like earth grass, but he munched bravely through them. "You trust the Doctor, don't you, Amy?"

"Of course."

"Then trust him to use his resources the best he can," Rory said. "He needs us here and strong so he can go and face a couple of his personal demons."

"Now what are you talking about?" Amy asked.

Rory shook his head. "That's for him to share," he said. "Sorry, Amy. I really didn't mean to say that."

"What's he told you that he hasn't told me?"

"Probably a lot, but he's probably also told you loads he hasn't told me. That's just how it is. He'll tell you if you need to know." Rory snorted. "Depending on his mood, he might tell you even if you don't want to know."

Danny started laughing. "He does like to talk, doesn't he?"

"He always has," Amy said. "I remember that first night I met him. Sort of. It's a bit dream-like now, but he wouldn't stop talking no matter what happened." She smiled. "He talks so much, but there are times when he doesn't really say anything."

"I think he's just to the point in his life where he needs the noise," Rory said. "Truce?"

"Yeah, truce," Amy said. "Come on, Danny, let's go check on your family. Your mum probably needs a nap. Do you think we can handle the kids between us?"

"Yeah," Danny grinned. "Thanks, Amy."

"It's what I'm here for, kid," she said.


	23. Chapter 23

The Doctor waited until the door was shut behind Rory before he looked back over at Mitchell. “A planet of telepaths wouldn’t have done this much damage to you,” he said. “I think this is mostly your own doing. Besides, they would have to be far stronger than the Time Lords to be able to hurt you over such a vast distance. No, Mitchell, I think that I was wrong about that part of the equation.” The TARDIS beeped at him. “Ah, excellent work dear. Can you tell me how many planets the Beta Mining Corporation have under their control at the moment?”

He worked to secure Mitchell to the railing in such a way that he was sure the man wouldn’t be able to escape. The Doctor knew there was nothing the human could do to hurt the TARDIS if he did get loose, but he didn’t want an insane human running around his ship either. Maybe he would ask her to create a secure padded room set where he could put the people he needed to take to the Shadow Proclamation. “Done? Thank you.” He looked at the monitor. “Blimey, that’s far more than I was thinking. You don’t have enough power to hop to even three of these, do you? We’ll have to go and refuel first. Oh, Jack is going to be in for a surprise when   
we land.”

Cardiff wasn’t his favorite city on Earth in any era. Almost dying there might have jaded his view of it slightly, but it was the single most accessible source of fuel and power for the TARDIS and he hadn’t been to refuel since his last regeneration. “Sexy, can you set up secure rooms for these men we’re going to be ending up with please? If Jack does show when we land, I’ll have him help me move Mitchell. If not, well, I suppose we’ll have them as decoration until we finish our evidence collection. There. Now, can you give me a readout on the conditions of these planets pre and post mining involvement?”

The Doctor worked on the console, making sure they would stay in the same timeline as the investigation he was running even as he made the hop back to Earth. It was easier on the TARDIS to travel in space only, and used less fuel, but multiple short hops would still have drained her completely. He hated that he had to add a day onto his investigation and hoped that Amy and Rory would be okay alone with the dragons until he got back.

“You can’t stop us,” Mitchell said.

“Mitchell, I’m busy. Give us a bit of hush, yeah?” the Doctor asked.

“You’ll never stop the mining group.”

“Why is that?” the Doctor asked with a sigh. It was obvious that the man wanted to break his concentration and stop him from locating something within the data he had downloaded from the group’s ships. “Why can I never stop the mining group?”

“We’re too big. Our influence stretches too far. You’ll never find us all. We’ll stop you before you stop us.”

“Well then, I suppose that I’ll just have to live with that threat, though I’ve heard worse in my life,” the Doctor said. He grinned when he felt the ship land. “There, now, unless I’m very much mistaken, we should have company within a few minutes. A man who will be able to help me a great deal. So now, it’s time for you to sleep.”

He went over and took Mitchell’s head in his hands, carefully shutting down the two links he found without attempting to trace them back to the source and then pushed the man into a deep sleep. “Did you notice that, sexy? There were two completely dormant telepathic links to his mind. Those couldn’t have been doing him any good, he’s about as telepathic as a log. No, he’s been hurt by someone, but I wonder about the insanity. Could it have come from having to deal with something he is unable to understand or is it simply caused by his own mind attempting to justify what he’s done with his mining group. Hello, Jack.”

“Doctor.” The former time agent shut the door and grinned. “You regenerated. That’s what it was all about in the bar. I knew something was up, but couldn’t quite work out what. You look....good.”

“Never one to pull your punches, are you, Jack?” the Doctor grinned. “I just dropped in to refuel and figured you’d come to call. If you were still on Earth, anyway. Now, I’ve got a problem that I could use some experienced help with. Can you break away from Torchwood for a day or three and give a hand?”

“Sure,” Jack said. “Don’t tell me you’re still alone, Doc. You know you tend to go a little odder when you’re alone.”

“How can you tell?” the Doctor asked. “No, no, I have a companion. Well, I have companions actually. They’re married, team up on me all the time. They’re currently on a planet where dragons life helping there. This is a very long story, Jack, one that I don’t know how to fix.”

“Well, how ‘bout we start with the guy you have hand-cuffed to the railing there. Something you never told me, Doc?”

The Doctor blushed. “Blimey Jack, you never change, do you?”

“Nope. Seriously, Doc, what are we looking at here?”

“Slavery, planetary invasion, violation of galactic laws, bribery and I don’t know what else,” the Doctor said. “The TARDIS alerted me to it, Jack. All on her own. That should tell you how important this is. I have data and information and people and I still have no idea how or when or what to do to stop this.”

Jack walked over and put a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder. “You’ll work it out. You always do, even if it is at the last second,” he said. “Come on, what are we going to do first?”

“Who do you need to get in touch with to let them know you’re going to be gone?” the Doctor asked. “I don’t want to just steal you. Torchwood would never let me hear the end of it.”

“I just need to shoot Gwen a text and I’ll be ready to go,” Jack said. He pulled out his cell phone and started typing. “You know, Doc, this look suits you. I don’t know why, but you seem more at home in this regeneration than you have both previous regenerations. All righty, there we go, I’m all yours.”

“Is there anything you can’t turn into a come on, Jack?” the Doctor asked. “Help me move Mitchell here to the padded room the TARDIS has ready for him.”

“I haven’t found it yet, Doc. My team has tried to ban me from even saying hi to people.” Jack waved him off and picked Mitchell up easily. “Are we going to leave him in these cuffs? Where did you get handcuffs anyway?”

“From a friend of mine. She has a rather large and extensive collection of restraints and I borrowed some,” the Doctor said. “Just in here. Yes, we’re going to leave him restrained and asleep until we need more information from him. He’s the root cause of the problem, I’m just not sure if he’s going to be part of the solution.”

“But we can’t just kill him,” Jack said. “What’s your next step?”

“I’d like to take everything to the Shadow Proclamation and turn the case over to them,” the Doctor said. “But I can’t, at least, not yet. First I have to have enough data and evidence to keep their focus off of me.”

Jack looked at him. “What in the universe did you do to piss off the Shadow Proclamation?”

“Davros,” the Doctor said. “When he took all the planets to power his machine, I went to the Shadow Proclamation to report the Earth missing. I was able to work out what happened and how to trace it when they had been unable to and they tried to take the TARDIS and insist I lead them to war.”

“You ran off, didn’t you?” Jack asked. He started laughing. “That’s so you, Doc. So they must be itching for you to come back so they can arrest you and do something nasty to you, huh?”

“I’m afraid so. They wouldn’t dare hunt for me or try to track me down. My being a Time Lord still holds them off of the more basic responses, but heading back in and landing in the middle of their compound without something interesting and important enough would be seen as surrendering and I really don’t want to do that.”

“Don’t blame you a bit for that one. Surrendering isn’t really our style unless you absolutely have to or don’t have another choice,” Jack said. He leaned against the console near the monitor. “So, is there any chance the TARDIS can show me this information in English?”

“Of course. It was all in English originally, so there’s no reason for her to have to translate it,” the Doctor said. “Once we’re powered up, there’s five or six worlds that I want to visit and see what this mining groups has done. I recognize names, Jack, and know that their people would never have agreed to having their homes mined.”

Jack looked up from the monitor. “You mentioned slavery.”

“Bad enough their violating galactic law by taking away first rights to mining on all of these planets, but there have been more than hints that if the local people refuse the approach of the mining group, then they’re taken over and the planet is mined anyway.”

“With free labor from the locals,” Jack said. “This is sick, Doc.”

“Yes, it is,” the Doctor agreed. “You can also see why I need someone with me who knows more about the universe than my companions. Amy and Rory are good, don’t misunderstand me there, but this is far beyond their understanding. I have them in a safe place where they can help but not be put in the middle of everything. I’d rather not take another human to the Shadow Proclamation unless I have absolutely no choice in the matter.”

“Donna went there, didn’t she?”

“She did. She looked so lost, Jack. So out of place. Some of that had to have been that her planet was missing, her family gone, but there was more to it. She was uncomfortable,” the Doctor said. His shoulders sagged. “I made so many mistakes with her.”

Jack put his hand back on the Doctor’s shoulder. “I saw her not too long ago, Doc. She’s happy,” he said. “Really, truly happy. I know she’d be happier remembering everything she did, everything she saw when she was with you, but she’s happy with her life. We all are.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor said. He looked up. “Jack, is there anywhere good to eat near-by? The TARDIS will be a while yet, and I feel like dinner.”

“Yeah, there’s a few places,” Jack said. “Will we have enough time to study these places before we get there?”

“We will.” The Doctor smiled. “The TARDIS will fuel faster if we’re out.”

“Makes sense,” Jack grinned. “Come on, Doc, I’ll treat you to some of the best that Cardiff has to offer and you can tell me about your new companions. Is Amy cute?”

“Jack.”

“Doc, I wouldn’t do anything to come between them, but come on. It’s a fair question.”

The Doctor shut the door firmly behind him and turned to Jack. “I don’t know if she’s cute or not,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to that sort of thing. She’s brave and cleaver, and loyal. Very, very loyal.”

“Sounds like a great lady,” Jack said. “And her husband?”

“Rory has proven to be so much more than I ever expected. I’ve asked for his help and for him not to tell Amy about something,” the Doctor said. “I know it’s not fair of me to ask him to keep secrets from his wife, but this isn’t something I’m comfortable letting her know about.”

Jack glanced over. “You gonna share?”

“After dinner, if you insist. You have a good mind, Jack. You might be able to help me with it too. For now, however, I want to eat. I haven’t felt the need for a good meal in months.”

“Well then, I know just the place. Time for me to impress you, Doc.”

“Captain, are you flirting with me?” the Doctor asked.

“Of course I am. I’m never going to stop, Doc,” Jack said. “Come on, I can finally buy you that drink.”  
***********

The TARDIS was mostly refueled when they got back from supper, both of them carrying takeaway boxes. “I cannot believe you tried to get custard with your fish, Doc. What happened to that banana fixation you used to have?” Jack said, shutting the door behind them.

“New mouth, new tastes,” the Doctor said. “Although I will admit that I haven’t thought about bananas in a long time. Maybe when this is over we can take a quick hop to the Groves at Villengard and see if I still like bananas.”

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Jack laughed. “Come on, give me your food and I’ll go stash it in the kitchen while you check on the TARDIS.”

“Thank you. Check on Mitchell too, please. I want to keep him unconscious for as long as possible.”

Jack saluted and headed off into the TARDIS. The Doctor went to the console to check on the status of the fuel and energy and found that, while she was still refueling, the TARDIS would be able to let them examine some of the files and other information gathered from the mining company ships.

“Everything’s good on board, Doc,” Jack said. “Whatcha got?”

“A place to start, I think. This is the first planet that the mining group took over. They have it designated with a number, but I know it,” the Doctor said. “Maringa. A beautiful world with humanoid natives. They would have fought against any outside mining of their home-world because they believe their God lives in the core of the world and gifts them with their food through the ground. Mining there would be like destroying their religion.”

 

“Then that is the perfect way to start. Isn’t there some provision under the Shadow Proclamation that forbids the destruction of another race’s religion by outside influences?” Jack asked.

“There might have been at some point, but if there still is, I can’t recall it. Or it’s possible that it hasn’t happened yet,” the Doctor said. “The people of Maringa were willowy and not very strong, so they wouldn’t make good miners. I do hope we’re not too late.”

“How long before we can go?” Jack asked.

“Two hours,” the Doctor replied. “The TARDIS is just finishing up.”

Jack nodded and sat down in the jump seat. “So tell me something, Doc. Last regeneration you said you found it hard to look at me. That I was wrong. Has that changed?”

“You’re still a fixed point in time, Jack.” The Doctor took out his yo-yo and started playing with it. “My instincts are against fixed points in time. They do make me sick, but you’re not wrong. Not the way you’re thinking. Maybe I should have explained it better back then, but I was in shock and dealing with losing Rose and Martha and so much more that it was all I could do to keep moving forward.”

“I’m listening.”

“What happened to you, being reborn by the time vortex means that you can die, you still suffer the pain of whatever is done to you and you die. You don’t stay dead. Your body doesn’t necessarily regenerate, but that’s similar to what happens. The time vortex resets you.” The Doctor looked up. “You shine like a beacon, Jack. It’s almost blinding at times, and no one else can see it because they don’t know what they’re looking for. You’re the closest thing to a Time Lord the universe has at this point, and look at you. You’re doing good with your powers.”

“You helped make me good, Doc.”

“No, you did that all on your own, Jack. I just showed you the way.”

“Doc, did you intend to ask me for help when you came to refuel, or did you just ask spur of the moment?”

“I intended to ask if you were still here. I’m not sure exactly where we are in our personal timelines. Have you seen me recently?”

Jack shook his head. “Not any of you,” he said. “I was actually starting to worry that something had happened because it’s been so long since you’ve been to refuel. I wondered if something had happened to you.”

“You would know, Jack.” The Doctor sat down next to him. “With your connection to the time vortex, you would know if I died. You wouldn’t feel me regenerate, that’s something that’s natural to all Time Lords, but you would sense me die. The last of the Time Lords, gone from the universe. I don’t know what will happen to it then.”

“But Doc, with the way you travel, isn’t there a you around all the time anyway?” Jack asked. “I mean, at some point at any given time aren’t you in every time?”

“I’m at certain points in time, yes,” the Doctor said. “But not everywhere in every time in the universe. No Time Lord would be able to do that. It’s impossible.”

“Well, I hope you’re not planning to die for good any time soon,” Jack said. “The universe needs a Time Lord to keep it safe. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do,” the Doctor said. “Even if I cause half the problems before I fix them.”

Jack laughed. “This regeneration seems less sad. Less angry. I like it. So, you want to share what you asked Rory to help you with?”

“Can you let me into your mind, Jack?”

“It’ll be hard.”

“Yes, I remember. You don’t like anyone touching your mind. But this is something you need to see rather than be told.”

“I trust you, Doc. Just go slowly.”

“I will.” The Doctor leaned over and rested his forehead against Jack’s. “This will be easier than contact via my hands. More gentle. Relax, Jack. Let me show you this vision I had while I was in a healing coma. I cannot understand it, and that worries me.”

“You in a healing coma worries me.” He closed his eyes and tried to relax. “Okay, show me whatcha got.”


	24. Chapter 24

“Maringa,” the Doctor said as the TARDIS finished her materialization process. “I have us up on a hill where we’re less likely to be spotted.”

“How long has it been since you were here last, Doctor?” Jack asked.

“Technically I haven’t been here yet, but it’s a previous me that will be here, so it’s complicated. There we go, the TARDIS is tapping into the local computer network and will download anything related to the mining group.” The Doctor looked up. “Let’s go take a look around.”

“What do you think we’ll find out there, Doc?”

“I have no idea.” The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside. “Jack.”

“I see it.”

Whatever natural beauty the planet might have had prior to the mining group moving in, it was nothing but bare rock and smoke from burners. Everywhere the Doctor looked, he saw humans. “The Maringans have blue skin and eye-stalks, Jack. Do you see anyone down there who looks like that?”

“No. Come on, Doc, let’s see what the TARDIS can find.” Jack took the Doctor’s arm and pulled him back into the TARDIS. “I know you have to have a program to scan for native life in here somewhere, even if you don’t use it.”

“I’ll have adjust it a little. Just give me a second here.”

While the Doctor was working on his scan, Jack pulled the monitor over and reread the reports on Maringa that they had from the mining corporation ships. He didn’t like the way it looked at all, and was worried about the Doctor. “No one,” the Doctor said. “They’re gone, Jack. Gone.”

“There’s no one left?” Jack moved and looked over the Doctor’s shoulder. “Doctor.”

“Genocide, Jack. That’s what this equals. Genocide.”

“But Doc, how can you have met them in the future if this is their past?”

“Divergent timelines. When my people were alive there were times you would slip the time stream you were in and not even realize it,” the Doctor said. “I must have ended up in an alternate timeline from this one. They’re gone, Jack.”

Jack looked up. “You’re getting all this, right beauty?” he asked the TARDIS.

“She is,” the Doctor said. “All the scans, all the data, all the details.” He hit the console and pushed back to start pacing. “These humans are no better than Davros. Than Hitler. Than the Cybermen.”

“Doc, calm down.” Jack grabbed the pacing Doctor and stopped him.

“Calm down. That’s your suggestion. They are killing whole planets, Jack. Wiping out civilizations that are more advanced than they could ever hope to be and you tell me to calm down.”

“Okay, stupid suggestion, but at least take a deep breath and think for a second, Doc. Your vision showed daleks and cybermen and the Master and darkness. What if it was trying to show you this mining corporation and those beings of light you saw aren’t the Time Lords at the end of the Time War? What if they’re the victims of this mining group coming to thank you?” Jack said. He tilted the Doctor’s head up so he could meet the Time Lord’s eyes. “Doc, I think that vision was trying to warn you about this.”

The Doctor stared at him. “Jack, I think you’re right. If I’m not careful I slip into the darkness, shown by my previous self because he balanced there a few times and that’s still inside me, no matter how much I want to hide it,” he said. “The enemies in there, my personal enemies were various incarnations of the mining corporation and what they’re doing to the planets and people they’re taking over for money.”

“And the Master?”

“When I sent Mitchell into this deep sleep, I found two completely dormant telepathic links in his mind,” the Doctor said. “Sexy, are there any planets the mining corporation has taken over where there are telepaths strong enough to do this?”

“Sexy?” Jack asked with a grin.

“What?”

“The TARDIS. You call her sexy now?”

“Ah, usually only when we’re alone. Only those I trust know about that nickname, Jack.”

“Doc.”

“Thank you, sexy,” the Doctor said. “Two planets, Jack. Twin planets that have two very distinct but linked cultures of telepaths. Both strong enough to create a link with a human mind regardless of telepathic talents. Ban and Asgard.”

“Who names these planets?”

“At least it’s not Raxacoricofallapatorius and Clom,” the Doctor said. “We’ll have to be here an hour or so to let the TARDIS collect all the information we need, but then I suggest we pay a visit to the planet Ban. It’s the larger and more populous planet of the pair. They’re also the stronger telepaths.”

“It won’t be dangerous for you, will it, Doc?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” the Doctor said. “We’ll need to stay out of sight the whole time we’re there, but I’ll be able to prove my theory by checking Mitchell’s mind while we’re there. If one of the links comes back to life, I’ll know we’re in the right place.”

“Then?”

“Then we go back to the corporation’s home planet and hack into their computer system to get the final evidence we need to go to the Shadow Proclamation. Jack, I think this will really work,” the Doctor said.

Jack laughed. “All you needed was your lucky charm, Doc. Glad I could help out.” 

They both looked over when there was a banging on the TARDIS door. “Somehow I think we shouldn’t answer that,” the Doctor said.

“What’s out there?”

“Sexy?”

The monitor shifted views, showing the outside of the TARDIS. Both Jack and the Doctor were shocked to see a small child with blue skin and eye stalks banging on the door. “Is this a trick?” Jack asked.

“No, it’s impossible to fool the TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

“Get him in here then,” Jack said hurrying to the door.

“Jack, wait. We both look human,” the Doctor said. “Well, Time Lord. Humans look like Time Lords, but the point is, we both look like the one who took over this planet. You could traumatize the child.”

“So we just leave him out there? You’ve seen what the humans have done to this planet.”

“No, no, we don’t leave him. Let me.” The Doctor went to the door and eased it open so there was just a crack. He was almost run over when the Maringan pushed forward and ran into the TARDIS. 

“Whoa, slow down there, kiddo,” Jack said softly.

“Shut me in, shut me in.”

“Doc!”

The Doctor shut the door firmly and stood up, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “You’re safe in here. You’ll be just fine,” he said. “Who’s chasing you?”

“The invaders.”

“How do you know we’re not a part of their team?” the Doctor asked.

“You smell different. You smell safe.”

“Well, that’s new,” the Doctor said. “What’s your name? I’m the Doctor and this is Captain Jack Harkness.”

“Bezell.”

“Nice to meet you Bezell,” Jack said. “Hey Doc, we got anything onboard that he can eat?”

“I’m sure we can find something. Are you hungry, Bezell?”

“Yes please.”

Jack stood up with the boy in his arms. The Doctor stood as well and put his hand on Jack’s arm to stop him for a second. “How many are there, Bezell? How many of your people are still alive and hiding?”

“Twenty of us, all young. Can you help us?”

“I can stop the miners and get them off your planet,” the Doctor said. “It won’t be easy, but we’ll leave you food and supplies. Are you in any immediate danger? Do the invaders know you’re still alive?”

“No. No, we’re well hidden, but we’re starving.”

“I’ll get the food, Doc. Usual store room?”

“Yes. Thank you, Jack. Bezell, do you know what the Shadow Proclamation is?” the Doctor asked.

“The governing body of the universe.”

“Close enough, yes. They don’t know about these invaders, or if they do, they’ve been paid to look the other way. I’m going to go to them and force them into action. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll come back and do something personally, but there are many people on many worlds being hurt just like you are,” the Doctor said. “Can your people hold on for a few more months?”

“We’ve been hiding for years. We will manage. With your gift of food, we’ll survive to reclaim our world.”

“Will you be safe to return to your people?” the Doctor asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

Jack returned with two large bags of food. “Looks like grains and fruits, Bezell. That okay?”

“It will help. Thank you, Doctor. Captain Jack Harkness. Thank you for caring enough to help.”

“Let me look outside first,” the Doctor said. “I’ll make sure your path is clear.”

He went back to the door and opened it, stepping out and looking around. “I don’t see anyone, Bezell. Now, you’re sure you’re okay to carry those bags? They’re pretty heavy.”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” He vanished into the weeds that surrounded the TARDIS.

The Doctor sighed and went back into his ship. Jack looked at him. “How’d we miss twenty of them?”

“His necklace. Did you notice it?”

“Yeah, looked like a bunch of rocks to me.”

“Suppressor stones. The TARDIS would have looked right over them and not even noticed. They’re well hidden with those. If his race wasn’t scared of space travel, I would have asked him to come and talk with the Shadow Proclamation.”

“We have the evidence. All they have to do is visit and see for themselves.”

“True. Either they do, or you and I will take on the corporation ourselves, Jack.”

“Breathe, Doc. We’ve still got a lot to do, and they’re going to start getting a little suspicious.” Jack patted the console. “I suggest we get to work.”


	25. Chapter 25

“Jack, it might be better if you stay in the TARDIS when we land on Ban,” the Doctor said, looking up from whatever it was he was twiddling on the console. “You have some latent telepathic talent and they might latch onto that out of anger.”

“Me, what about you, Doc?”

“I’m a touch telepath. They won’t be able to get inside my mind unless they touch me or I touch them and I’m not planning to go far from the TARDIS anyway. I just don’t want to risk you getting hurt.” He stopped for a second and looked up. “Not again.”

“Doc, you know that most of that wasn’t your fault, right? I could have left at any time after we got back from the end of the universe, but you needed me there. I don’t blame you for any of it.” Jack moved around and rested his hand on the Doctor’s shoulder. “What the Master did, he did on his own. Besides, you haven’t seen me in action lately. I’ve been taking on a lot of things that would make the Master tremble in his overpriced shoes.”

“I doubt that.”

“Good thing we’re never going to find out then, huh?” Jack squeezed the bony shoulder and moved back to the jump seat. “So, tell me about Ban. What’s the story there?”

“The Time Lords kept an eye on any planet with any chance of telepathic development, and Ban, along with her sister planet, were both high on the watch list,” the Doctor said. “I’ve actually never been to either of them, I’m the wrong sort of telepath to interact with the native population, but I heard stories and have read some of the reports.”

Jack grinned. “That you probably weren’t supposed to see, right?” he asked.

“Yes, well, it’s possible a couple of the reports were classified, but there’s no one around to object to my reading them now,” the Doctor said. “The native population of Ban is interesting in two regards, one being their very powerful telepathic natures, the second being their form.”

“Oh yeah, what do they look like?”

The Doctor was about to answer when the cell phone on the console rang. Jack was closer and picked it up to save the Doctor having to use his foot to drive. “Hello?”

“Uhm, hi.”

“Let me guess, this is Rory, right?” Jack asked. “I’m Jack. The Doctor’s flying at the moment and has his hands and feet busy. Can I pass on a message?”

“What was that?” Rory asked, hearing a loud thud.

“The Doctor,” Jack replied. “Hang on a second.” He put the phone down and went over to where the Doctor was lying on the floor. “I could help you fly, you know.” 

“Yes, yes, I know,” the Doctor said. “What does Rory want?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t get that far.” Jack held out a hand and pulled the Doctor back to his feet. “You really need to work on your technique there, Doc. Want some help with that?”

“Jack.”

“Not stopping,” Jack grinned. He leaned around and picked up the phone, handing it to the Doctor. “Here you go.”

“Thank you. Hello, Rory. Are you and Amy all right?”

“We’re fine, but Amy’s getting kind of bored and was wondering when you were going to be back to get us,” Rory said. “Not to mention that Anna’s freaking out over the dragons and has refused to eat anything that they have for us.”

“Rory, I have two more planets that I absolutely have to visit and they I’m going to talk to the Shadow Proclamation,” the Doctor said. “If I’m lucky, I’ll be back to collect you late tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know any more than that.”

“When did you pick Jack up?” 

“I had to go refuel and he was there. Rory, this is something that you and Amy should not be in the middle of,” the Doctor said. “You can help me out the best by staying where you are and doing what you can to help the dragons out.”

“I understand, but maybe you can explain it to Amy?” Rory asked. “She’s right here tapping her foot at me.”

The Doctor glanced at the console. “Jack, you know how to land us, right?”

“I think so, yeah. Your beauty will help me if I need it, right?” he patted the console fondly.

“Stop flirting with my ship, Jack,” the Doctor said.

“Jack? Who’s Jack?”

“Ah, hello Amy. I didn’t realize that Rory had passed over the phone,” the Doctor said. “Jack’s an old friend, he travels with me from time to time, mostly when he’s bored and wants to get out and see the universe again.”

“And he’s helping out with this big secret investigation you’ve got going on?” Amy asked. “Is he human?”

“He’s complicated,” the Doctor said. “Amy, I want you to listen to me closely now. I know you’re still upset with me for allowing you to be lost in time and not coming to collect you immediately, but it wasn’t that simple. No, Jack, that lever there. Amy, I was in the process of attempting to work out where the cats had sent you when the TARDIS took me to the planet of the dragons to help them. We are looking at a universal slavery ring. This mining corporation is taking over planets and enslaving their people. I was just on a planet where there are twenty people left of their entire race. Near genocide, Amy. I have to stop all of this, I have no idea how   
I’m going to do it or what will happen near the end, but I need to know that you and Rory are safe. That button, Jack.”

“You’re letting him fly the TARDIS?” Amy asked.

“He knows what he’s doing, mostly. As I said, he travels with me from time to time and has been for, how long now, Jack?”

“Centuries, I would think Doc. Three of you, anyway.”

The Doctor smiled. “We met in 1941, Amy, when I was in my ninth regeneration and chasing down space debris. That was a scary one. Blimey, I still shudder when I think what could have happened to the human race with those nanogenes,” he said. “Then he traveled with me and Rose. Dear, dear Rose. Then there were complications, daleks, we got separated, met again, went through death together several times and fell into a routine. Jack’s one of mine, Amy, and I won’t apologize for him.”

Jack grinned and flipped the final switch that would land them on Ban. “Hey Doc, I think you need to see this,” he said, turning the monitor towards the Doctor.

“Blimey, that’s not good at all,” the Doctor said. “Amy, I have to go. I’ll be back to collect you whenever I can. You and Rory have no place in the middle of this. You need to be safe. I need to know you’re safe. Behave yourselves and try to get Anna to eat. Maybe Belcoure can show you where there are berries or something you can collect.”

“Doctor.”

“I’ll see you soon, Pond.” The Doctor hung up and put the phone down. “She’s ginger, Jack.”

“Sounded like it. Scottish too?”

“Yes, and temper to match.”

“Worse than Donna?” Jack grinned.

“Amy doesn’t slap me,” the Doctor conceded. “Though she did find the files of the previous companions. All except K-9, which the TARDIS likely left out on purpose. I never have understood why some of them think they’re the only one to travel with me. I’m over 900 years old. I’ve had a lot of companions.”

“You love us all,” Jack said. “Doc, what are we going to do about this?”

The monitor was showing the landscape of Ban, covered by machines and dirt. The Doctor closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. “Telepathic dampeners, Jack,” he said. “Those machines there. The rest of them I think are mining equipment and things to help with mining, but those telepathic dampeners are a violation of galactic law unless the government of said planet puts them up on their own. Let’s hop over to Asgard. I want to see if they have something similar put up there as well.”

“What would they be mining here, Doc?”

“Bandolin gems,” the Doctor said. “One of the prettiest and rarest stones in the universe. I have one on the TARDIS, somewhere. I picked it up on another planet where it had no business being. The owner wasn’t too happy with me for that.”

“What do the stones do?” Jack held on to the console more out of habit than anything else. The flight to the sister planet was smooth.

“Well, the one I have has a slight telepathic field around it, enhancing the abilities of anyone who wears it,” the Doctor said. “When this is over and we’ve picked Amy and Rory up, I’ll see if I can find it to show you. I think you’d like it.”

“Just as bad out there,” Jack said. “Those dampeners, Doc?”

“I believe so, yes. Jack, let’s go check on Mitchell and see if one of those links I mentioned has become active.” The Doctor patted the console. “She’ll get us our information while we’re gone. The planets are close enough that the TARDIS can access both sets of computers from here.”

“You’re beautiful,” Jack told the TARDIS with a smile. “Doc, you never did tell me the full story about this Mitchell guy.”

“The founder of this mining corporation,” the Doctor said. “He’s insane now, Jack. I’m not sure what drove him over the edge into this current state, but the links with his mind can’t have helped any. He has no natural ability of his own so anything received over a telepathic link would be seen as a nightmare or a hallucination.”

“That’s enough to drive anyone mad. I have a guy like that at Torchwood, he works in the office,” Jack said. He leaned against the wall ready to move if the Doctor needed his help. “The rift got a hold of him and he almost killed a couple of my agents before we worked out what was going on. You can bet I put up blocks as soon as he was back to normal.”

“Nothing,” the Doctor said. “Although, with those telepathic dampeners out there, it’s possible that it would block anything that could bring either of these links to life.” He set Mitchell down carefully and leaned back. “I think we can stick to our original plan, Jack. Visiting every planet they’ve taken over would take us months, even with short stays on each, and the native populations would suffer too much.”

“Home base and then the Shadow Proclamation?”

“Yes, although I wonder if I could manage to sneak back to the dragon’s planet to pick up one other person.”

Jack shook his head. “I wouldn’t risk it. Think what Amy would do to you if she found out you hopped back there and didn’t pick them up.” He helped the Doctor up and headed back towards the console room. “How long are we going to be here, Doc?”

“A few hours, as long as nothing goes wrong,” the Doctor said.

“Then why don’t we finish up those left overs from Earth and you can catch me up on what’s been happening with you since your regeneration,” Jack said.

The Doctor smiled. “You would think after knowing you for so long, I would be used to how you are,” he said. “All right, Jack. Let’s eat and talk. Then, if you’re good, we might even go tinker with the TARDIS a little while we’re waiting.”

“I love it when you talk technical,” Jack grinned.  
***************

When the TARDIS materialized on the home planet of the mining corporation, there was an almost immediate attack from outside. “Blimey!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Jack, look at this.”

“Can they get in?” Jack asked, looking at the two men in what looked like blaster-proof armor beating on the door to the ship.

“No, not unless we open the door, but I don’t want them to hurt the TARDIS. Why don’t we find another place to settle in?” The Doctor flipped a few switches and hopped to another location, away from the main city on the planet. “There, that’s stopped them for the moment, but I wonder where we landed last time that they were right there waiting for us?”

“Could be the mining group is aware of what we’re doing and they reacted to the TARDIS rather than just hanging around waiting,” Jack said. “Either that or you landed us in the armory. Again.”

“That was one time,” the Doctor protested. But he was smiling. “That was an adventure, wasn’t it, Jack?”

“Oh yeah, I miss it, Doc.”

“The invitation still stands, Jack. You just have to let me know.”

He shook his head. “Torchwood still needs me, Doc. You have Amy and Rory and I get the feeling that Amy wouldn’t react too well to having me around long term,” Jack said. “One day though.”

“You have the number,” the Doctor said. “There, I managed to get the TARDIS hooked in. You’re right, they do know something is going on, this is an oscillating data flow. A normal hacker wouldn’t be able to do anything with it.”

“The TARDIS is enjoying this, isn’t she?”

“Of course.” The Doctor sat down on the edge of the jump seat. “We just have to wait for her to download all the information we need and then it’s back to the time vortex to review and make our final plans.”

“What do you think the Shadow Proclamation is going to do when we show up with all this information and a prisoner?” Jack asked.

“Prisoners. I’m going to have to go back and collect at least two more people, Jack. One runs the satellite in orbit around this planet and the other is a politician from Earth who has been taking money to look the other way,” the Doctor replied. “If I thought I could, I would go and collect every single boss and take them back in time and dump them on an abandoned world and make them live like they’ve been forcing the people of those planets to live.”

Jack grinned and sat down next to the Doctor, propping his feet up on the console carefully. “That’s still an option,” he said. “So, you going to call and let Amy know you’re coming? Do you really think it would hurt to take them along when you present this case?”

“Not so much hurt as cause delays,” the Doctor said. “The Shadow Proclamation isn’t human friendly and Amy is very forward. Landing on the dragon’s planet, however, I may have no choice but to at least speak with them. I need them to stay there because I cannot have Danny or his family onboard the TARDIS when I have Mitchell confined and unconscious. Think of the problems that would cause.”

“Me talking to Amy probably wouldn’t be such a good idea, would it?” Jack asked.

“Until today she’s never heard of you. Don’t look at me like that, Jack, you know how much it hurts to remember my friends when they’re not with me.”

Jack put an arm around the Doctor’s shoulders and squeezed. “I’d like to think that I’ve made enough of an impression to be talked about, but yeah. Yeah, I do know how much it can hurt. I think of Rose some nights, even knowing she’s safe and happy and wake up in tears,” he said. “You have so many more people that you treasure, Doc. I don’t blame you for not talking about us. Maybe I will take a hop or two with you guys, just for kicks. So you have someone around who knows what you’re going through after something like this. You’ll have them, yeah, but would you really be able to talk with them?”

“No, no I wouldn’t. Thank you, Jack. You’ve been such a blessing through the end of this,” the Doctor said. “Let me call Rory and talk to him. I’ll let him know we’re coming back to collect Roberts and Pierre and also some supplies if the dragons can spare them. You need to try this deer that they hunt. It’s quite remarkably good.”

“Can’t wait.” Jack stayed where he was and was pleasantly surprised when the Doctor sat back down next to him.

“Rory, it’s me.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that one, Doctor. What’s up?” Rory asked.

“Oh, yes, sorry. There’s so much going on that I didn’t realize,” the Doctor said. “Rory, I’m going to be coming back to collect two of the men from the prison holes and Jack thought it would be a good idea to let you know about it, if only so you can keep Amy in the caves.”

Rory sighed. “Luckily I’m out tending to a couple of injuries,” he said. “Doctor, she is livid right now. I don’t know what set her off, but it’s really not pretty. Is there any chance you can take us with you?”

“I could take her, but Rory, I can’t take Danny and his family. Not now. What would happen if Anna stumbled onto her husband? What would happen then?”

“Point. I’m happy to stay. Melconia and I have been trying to teach each other words in our own languages,” Rory said. “The TARDIS doesn’t translate for the babies. It’s really nice here, and I’m getting on well with the dragons. Take Amy with you, Doctor. I think she needs to feel like she’s able to do something. I don’t know, I really don’t understand her some days.”

“Jack’s here,” the Doctor said.

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” Jack said loudly enough that Rory could hear him as well.

The Doctor glanced at him, a smile playing around his lips. “Then that will be a first and I don’t know if I believe it,” he said. “Rory, you don’t have to worry about Jack. He flirts on autopilot, but he won’t break up a couple.”

“Not worried in the least, if you trust him,” Rory said. “You’ve got everything you need, Doctor?”

“If you could pack up a few meals for us. The TARDIS has been supplying us and I really need to take a moment for a shopping trip. Have Amy outside the caves, Rory, and I’ll pick her up after I get Roberts and Pierre secure. Then we’ll just have to see what happens.”

“We’ll be ready, Doctor,” Rory said. “You’ll let me know if there’s anything else you need, won’t you?”

“You’re doing fine, Rory. Thank you. Oh, and Rory, Jack and I managed to tease one meaning out of that vision,” the Doctor said. “I don’t know if there’s another one or not, but the answer Jack thought of matches well.”

“That’s great,” Rory said. “Because I’ve come up with nothing. Belcoure’s here, I’m heading back. See you when you get here, Doctor.”

“See you soon, Rory.”

Jack took the phone and tossed it back onto the console. “So, we’re getting Amy but not Rory, huh?”

“There’s something wrong, Jack, this isn’t like Amy,” the Doctor said. “I wonder if that rogue teleport did something to her, or if there was some sort of pollen I should be worrying about. One more complication in this network of complications.”

“You get her to stand still, I’ll scan her for anything alien,” Jack said. He held up his hand. “Still no teleport, but the med scanner works. She won’t even know what’s happening and we don’t have to get her near the medical area.”

The Doctor laughed, delighted. “You con man you,” he said. “Absolutely perfect and will take my mind off the problem. Thank you, Jack. Again, you save the day. Captain Jack, savior of the Time Lord.”

“Other way ‘round, Doc,” Jack said. “You saved me. So many times. You showed me what it means to be a good man, to care. That’s one reason I can’t leave Torchwood right now. There’s someone there I care about. A lot.”

“Jack, that’s wonderful. A man of your own. Or is it a woman this time?”

“A guy. You’ve seen him, well, your last regeneration did briefly when you were getting ready to tow the Earth home.”

The Doctor thought for a minute. “I do recall a very polite, quiet dark-haired gentleman,” he said. “That him?”

“That’s him,” Jack said. “Hey, take a look at that.”

“Oh, blimey, that’s new. Look at those readings. I think we managed to break into their finances. Either that or we’re looking at a new bank in the universe.”

“Makes me want to go rob it, give the money back to the planets it was stolen from,” Jack said.

“Maybe we will,” the Doctor said. “For now, though, we’ve got what we need. Let’s go pick up our two other prisoners, and Amy, and then onto make our report. I think, Jack, that things are looking up.”


	26. Chapter 26

Amy sat down in the sun outside the caves and pulled her knees up against her chest. She heard a sigh behind her, but ignored it, looking around for the TARDIS. “Amy, he’ll be here,” Rory said. “He’s got a lot going on, but you know he doesn’t break promises.”

“No, but he is forgetful,” Amy replied. “I’m not taking a chance of missing him, Rory.”

“So you’re really going to go with him. Leave Anna and Danny to deal with the kids and take off with the Doctor even when he’s not sure it’s a good idea for you to be going along?” Rory asked.

“Yep.”

“Here’s the food the Doctor asked for,” Rory said. He put several bundles down on the ground next to Amy. “Don’t forget it. I’ve got my phone with me, call and let me know how things go, will you?”

“You’re not going to wait for him?”

“I’m due down in the hatching area. Melconia’s splints are chafing and I want to see if I can come up with another idea to keep her wing still while it heals,” Rory said. He kissed Amy’s cheek. “Be careful and don’t do anything to upset the Doctor.”

“I’ll be fine,” Amy said.

Rory had his doubts, but he kept quiet and went back into the cave network. He knew that the Doctor would be able to sort Amy out better than he could, there was something wrong with her and he felt bad for dumping that on the Doctor when there were so many other problems, but   
there was nothing else he could do. Hopefully the mysterious Jack would be able to help out where Rory couldn’t.

Amy enjoyed the feel of the sun while she waited, eyes scanning for the familiar shape of the TARDIS, not sure where the Doctor would be landing. When she heard the materialization noise, she jumped up and only just remembered to grab the packages of food next to her. Amy hurried over to the TARDIS and pushed the door open. “Doctor?”

Instead of the familiar Doctor, she found a dark-haired man leaning against the console, arms crossed over his chest. “Hi Amy,” he said.

“You must be Jack,” Amy smiled. “You certainly weren’t in the list of previous companions the TARDIS showed me.”

“The TARDIS and I have an understanding,” Jack said. He patted the console fondly. “Amy, the Doctor is taking care of a few things back in the TARDIS, which is just as well because I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure.” She put the food down in the jump seat and leaned against the railing.

“This place we’re going, it’s not a place for humans. They’ll let you in because you’re with the Doctor, and they won’t hurt you for the same reason, but they don’t like you.” Jack sighed. “They’re not fond of me either, but that’s another story. So there’s ground rules for going to the Shadow Proclamation. You can’t obey them, then you either stay in your room here on the TARDIS or you turn around and march right back out that door.”

“Last time I checked, it was the Doctor who made the rules aboard the TARDIS, not the companions. And certainly not one who just pops up out of nowhere and tries to take his place back.”

“Amelia Pond, you stop right there.” The Doctor clattered down the stairs and stood next to Jack at the console. “This is Jack’s home and has been for, well, centuries we think. It’s complicated. He just doesn’t live here all the time.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Jack teased.

“Oi! Any kinky fantasies you have, you take them up with your young man,” the Doctor said. “What I’m saying, Amy, is that Jack has enough experience in the universe to be making rules and giving orders on the TARDIS whenever I’m not around.”

“He’s human though,” Amy said.

“He’s complicated,” the Doctor said. He pushed off the console and went over to the section that would take them back into the time vortex. “Jack, have you been messing about with the stabilizers again?”

“Nope, why? Do they need adjustment?”

“I think they’re fine for now, but a day of maintenance once this is over would probably be a good idea. The king of the dragons might let us stay with them for a day or two while we check the systems.” The Doctor looked at the monitor and nodded. “That’s got that fixed. Amy, would you take those meals to the kitchen, please? We’ll be in flight for about an hour.”

“Sure, but then I want to hear more about these complications surrounding Jack.”

The Doctor watched her leave and looked at Jack. “Well?”

“She’s healthy, good weight, but there is something in her head,” Jack said. “Something that’s not supposed to be there. I think it’s possible that those teleports you were talking about weren’t teleports but some sort of mind altering device.”

“Something for us to check out, yeah?” the Doctor asked.

“Say the word, Doc.”

“You say that he has a boyfriend, so why is he flirting with you?” Amy asked as she came back into the control room.

“Jack would flirt with a rock if he thought he had a chance with it,” the Doctor muttered. “Actually, no, I take that back. I seem to remember once on the planet Afirgig you did go off with a being who did look a great deal like a walking rock.”

Jack grinned. “That was a troll, Doc,” he said. “That was also one hell of an educational night.”

“So he’s a prostitute then?” Amy asked.

“No more than you are,” Jack replied. “I’m just from a century where sex is more recreational and less taboo.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Amy said. “You look totally normal to me.”

“Never taken her to the end of the Earth or New Earth?” Jack looked over at the Doctor. 

“No, although we were on New Earth when she had the unfortunate teleport accident,” the Doctor said. “Centuries before it was settled by the humans, of course. The cats were still in control and that’s what makes me curious.”

“Yeah, they’re good with tech. No way one of their teleports would malfunction accidentally,” Jack said. “Doc, look at this.”

The Doctor went around to the monitor and followed Jack’s finger. “So many worlds,” he said softly. “I don’t understand how they spread so quickly. Mitchell is young, for a human. I would know if I could just work out who took him over and drove him insane so easily.”

“Wait, Mitchell? You mean you have Danny’s father here, Doctor?” Amy asked. “Why didn’t you drop him off with his family? Anna’s been frantic with worry over him.”

“He’s the root cause of the slavery, Amy,” the Doctor said. “He’s the one who founded the mining corporation and he has to be taken to the Shadow Proclamation to face his crimes. He’s the reason I didn’t want Anna and the kids back on the TARDIS before this was all over. They’re safe with the dragons and Rory, and I had hoped, you. You were good with the kids.”

“I need to be doing something,” Amy said.

“Hey Doc, I’m gonna go grab a snack while the TARDIS works out the last of the data, You want anything?” Jack asked.

“If you can find bread, a sandwich would be lovely. Thank you, Jack,” the Doctor said. “I’m going to check a couple of things here. Do you mind bringing it back to me?”

“Nope. Amy, how ‘bout you?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Amy said.

“Okay, back in a bit.” Jack hopped up the stairs two at a time and vanished into the interior of the TARDIS.

Amy looked at the Doctor. “So, you want to tell me why I’ve never heard of him before and why he’s not part of the pictures the TARDIS showed me?” she asked.

“Jack’s special,” the Doctor said. “To the TARDIS, I mean. They’ve had their arguments, but have made up. He helped her when she was screaming in agony and I wasn’t able to get to her fast enough.” He patted the console and knelt down. “Jack’s, well, I suppose immortal is the wrong word. He can die, he just comes back to life again. The severity of his death is shown with how long it takes for him to wake up again. He’s going to live forever, just like me.”

“So why isn’t he here with you then? You say this is his home, but he doesn’t live here. What’s that all about?”

“I met him for the first time in the Blitz. He saved Rose and the planet. He took a bomb that was about to explode on his ship with him and left, knowing that it would kill him.” The Doctor looked off into the distance. “Rose and I went after him, and he stayed. He enjoys traveling, but then he died. He was brought back to life that first time and became immortal. Yes, it works for anyone who doesn’t understand the outer dimensions. There were misunderstandings between us, but we lived and died together fighting an insane man. We saved the Earth and Jack found his place there with Torchwood. He rebuilt it to protect people. He comes with me from   
time to time, short hops, but not since I regenerated. This is the first time we’ve seen each other since I last died.”

“So you have this immortal companion that you never thought to mention even though he could just show up at any time?” Amy asked. She didn’t get any farther than that because Jack injected her with a sedative and caught her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

“Well done, Jack,” the Doctor said. “Now, let me take a look at this alien influence you picked up on.” He stood and moved over to stand next to the jump seat where Amy was lying and took her head in his hands. “Oh, blimey, what a mess. How do humans stand this?”

“We can’t all be geniuses like you, Doc,” Jack grinned. He grew serious. “What do you see?”

“There’s a metal chip implanted in her brain that’s picking up signals from somewhere. That should be impossible here in the time vortex. Oh, wait, we’ve landed,” the Doctor said. “I didn’t hear the shift back to conceptual space. Those cats did something to her before they dumped her back in the past to be sacrificed. Now I definitely want to have a talk with them.”

“What about the chip, Doc? Can you shut down it’s signal and get Amy back to normal, or normal enough that we can put a stop to this mining corporation?” Jack asked.

“Yes, of course I can,” the Doctor said. “It’s likely advanced for their culture, but horribly primitive for a Time Lord. She’ll have to have it removed, but that should block the signal for now. How much of that sedative did you give her?”

“Enough to keep her out for an hour or so,” Jack said. “Think the TARDIS can keep her locked in her room without causing too many problems?”

“I think so, yeah,” the Doctor said. “TARDIS, will you guide Jack to the room Amy and Rory share, please? I’m going to copy our data onto a series of crystals and get them ready for presentation.”

Jack picked Amy up carefully and started up the stairs. “I’ll be right back, Doc. Don’t go anywhere without me.”

“I won’t.”

The Doctor forced the problem with Amy to the back of his mind, pushed all his anger and ire at the cats away so he could focus on the problem in front of him. The TARDIS hummed as she copied over all the data that she had downloaded, making sure to back everything up to her system as well. By the time Jack got back to the console room, the Doctor had a bag of gems that he could tuck into his pocket. “I don’t know what sort of a reception we’re going to get out there, Jack,” he said.

“I’m ready when you are, Doc,” Jack grinned. “You know me, I love danger. In fact, maybe I should go first. That way if any of the Judoon feel like shooting first and asking questions later, I can actually do it.”

“I have the force field running,” the Doctor said. 

“Really, you still have that old thing?” Jack laughed. “A fully functional force-field. I remember rigging that up. The TARDIS against the Emperor of the Daleks. We won.”

“We did. Thanks to Rose.” The Doctor grinned. “We’ll be safe as long as we stay in close to the doors, Jack. Are you ready?”

“Come on, Doc, you know me. I’m always ready.”

“Then let’s see what sort of a reception the Shadow Proclamation has for us.” The Doctor laughed. “Geronimo!”  
***********

The TARDIS appearing within the Shadow Proclamation didn't go unnoticed and, by the time the doors opened, there was a squad of Judoon waiting with weapons drawn and one Shadow Architect standing amongst them. "Hello," the Doctor said as he stepped out into the mezzanine area. "I need to report several crimes and was hoping you could help me."

"How did you get the TARDIS?" the Shadow Architect asked.

"I'm the Doctor. I've regenerated since the last time I was here. I hope we can forget about me running off last time, seeing as I did manage to return all 27 planets to their rightful places and the only ones who died were the daleks and their master."

"What do you bring us, Doctor?"

The Doctor took out the bag of information stones. "Evidence of violations of galactic law including removal of right of first mining, slavery, genocide, and removal of telepathic rights of a race," he said.

The Shadow Architect raised a hand and all the Judoon lowered their weapons. "If your evidence is correct, Doctor, then we will ignore your offense from your previous visit. Now make your friend known to me."

"This is Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor said. "One of my companions and aid in my investigation. I also have three men with me who are at the root of the violations. They are all asleep and restrained at the moment, but Jack can fetch them whenever you wish."

"Kidnapping is a serious offense," the Shadow Architect said.

"I didn't kidnap them, they're evidence. Don't forget, Shadow Architect, I'm a Time Lord. Protecting time and the universe is just as much my responsibility as it is your," the Doctor said. "Besides, one of them attacked me. I have every right to defend myself in my own ship."

"This is true. So long as you did not alter their minds when you aided their sleep, we will accept them as evidence," she said. "Bring them."

"Jack."

"On it, Doc."

The Shadow Architect smiled. "We will not harm you, Doctor. You can lower your force field."

"A show of trust," the Doctor said. He thought for a moment. "I have a human on board. She's asleep to save her the pain of an unasked for mind alteration. Do I have your word that she will be unharmed no matter what your findings are here today?"

"You do."

"Lower the field, dear," the Doctor said. He stepped forward and handed over the bag of gems. "Evidence collected from a number of planets under the hold of the Beta Mining Corporation as well as their ships, hub and home world. Also, I would like to report the discovery of a new planet inhabited solely by dragons."

"Dragons? This is a new world. How did you come to find it?"

"The mining corporation attempted to mine the dragons' sacred grounds for profit. The TARDIS detected the need for aid and off we went," the Doctor said. "The dragons have been on their planet for over 500 years. That gives them first rights to mining."

"It does, under all galactic laws. I shall rule in their favor so long as they have killed none."

"None have died by the dragons' hands. There are some plants that are carnivorous, and were not marked out. A couple of humans did, regrettably, find those too late," the Doctor said. "The dragons hold all the invaders to their world until a ship can arrive to transport them off."

"You come well prepared, Doctor," the Shadow Architect smiled. "These are two of the men?"

Jack set Pierre and Roberts down next to the Doctor. "I figured I'd bring Mitchell out last," he said. "Unless you want to keep him in the TARDIS for a bit longer?"

"Bring him out, Jack. Thank you," the Doctor said. "Shadow Architect. The last man, Mitchell, has been driven insane by a pair of telepathic links. They are dormant at the moment. I originally suspected they came from the people of Ban and Asgard, as both are under the control of the mining corporation. However, there are telepathic dampeners on both planets and neither link activated when we visited. Mitchell is the founder of the Beta Mining Corporation and showed no concern in attacking me in an attempt to take over the dragons' planet."

"There is much evidence to review," the Shadow Architect said. "Come, take tea with us, Doctor. The Judoon will take the three men to holding until we can examine them."

"Do you have a telepath on staff?" the Doctor asked.

"We have you," the Shadow Architect said. "For all that you run from war, you are a Time Lord. We can monitor you to see if you lie or not in your examination."

"Very well, whatever I can do to help." He looked around. "Jack?"

"Right with you, Doc," Jack said. "I'm like you, anything I can do to help."  
**********

The Shadow Architect took time to review every crystal that the Doctor provided while the Doctor and Jack sat quietly off to the side and answered what questions they could. "This Beta Mining Corporation interests me," she finally said leaning back in her chair. "That they could pay to violate galactic law. That should have been impossible."

"Yes, it should have been. I know that Mitchell didn't care about galactic law, only what money he could make," the Doctor said. "That's so very human of him. They are a race with potential, but they are still so young in relation to the universe."

"There are days we think them pests," the Shadow Architect said. "Other days we are amazed at what they bring to the new homes they create. That is the only reason we don't sanction them and confine them to their home solar system. You are right though, Doctor, this needs to be stopped. We thank you for bringing the evidence to our attention."

"May I ask how you plan to stop them?" the Doctor asked.

"The Judoon will go in and collect anyone not native to the planets that have been enslaved and bring them to prison for trial," the Shadow Architect said. "None will be killed without trial, Doctor. They may violate galactic law, but we shall not."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

"Doc."

"Yes, Jack, I see her," the Doctor said. "Amy, come sit down and have some tea. Shadow Architect, this is the human I referred to."

"Join us, child."

"Doctor, what happened to me?" Amy asked.

"You exhausted yourself, Pond," the Doctor replied. "Jack put you to bed just before we arrived here and we were just going to let you sleep. Have some tea and hush. I need to speak with the Shadow Architect."

Amy sat down next to Jack, but didn't pick up a tea cup. The Doctor bit back a sigh and turned back to the Shadow Architect. "What of the men I brought with me?"

"What are their crimes other than those already stated?"

"Pierre is from original Earth, a politician who I believe to have been accepting money to look the other way while the Beta Mining Corporation violated galactic law," the Doctor said. "There is no telepathic problems with him, as far as I have been able to tell. Roberts is a bully who ran the launch hub for the Corporation. He also kept humans imprisoned on the hub. They've been rescued and are safe for now. Mitchell, I've explained. I wouldn't mind another look at his mind."

"The hostages, where are they?"

"With the dragons and Amy's husband," the Doctor said. "Perfectly safe and awaiting a new home. I promised them that."

The Shadow Architect nodded. "Then we shall allow you to place them as long as their testimony is not needed for the case," she said.

"They would be unable to testify without bias," the Doctor said. "They are Mitchell's family."

"How many?"

"Wife and six children," the Doctor said. "The children range in age from sixteen to six months old. They've suffered enough."

"As you say, Doctor. Shall we go and examine Mitchell?"

The Doctor and Jack stood as the Shadow Architect did, and Jack pulled Amy to her feet. He could tell that she was off-balance, probably because the Doctor had shut down whatever was hiding out in her mind. "We are at your service," the Doctor said with a bow. "Jack, keep an eye on Pond, please. I don't think she's fully awake."

"If your companions wish to return to your ship, Doctor, they may."

"Pond just takes a while to wake up is all," the Doctor said. "Especially when her husband isn't with her. Lead on, Shadow Architect. Lets see what Mitchell has to tell us."  
**********

The Doctor was impressed. He kept it to himself, but the more he saw of the Shadow Proclamation facilities, the more he was impressed. He still wasn't sure that the Shadow Architect was going to keep her word and let them go with no problems, or that they would move to start to break up the mining group, but he had to hope.

"Doctor, we wonder why none of them have awoken," the Shadow Architect said.

"It's because I put them to sleep," the Doctor said. "Let me wake Pierre and Roberts up for you, and you can have someone question them while we're in with Mitchell."

"Thank you. What of your companions?"

"They'll be quiet," the Doctor said with a glance at Jack.

Jack read the message there and nodded. He had to keep Amy back and quiet while the Doctor was working. One word out of place and everything could fall apart. He hadn't forgotten what the Doctor told him about the last time the Time Lord was at the Shadow Proclamation. Jack had spent some time in jail, it wasn't an experience he wanted to revisit any time soon. He watched, silently, as the Doctor woke both men from their induced naps and grinned when Roberts fainted again at the sight of the Judoon with guns pointing at him.

"Jack," the Doctor said softly.

"Sorry," Jack replied. He ducked his head and followed the Doctor along the pale corridor towards another room.

"Shadow Architect, with your permission, I'll leave Mitchell asleep while I'm searching his mind initially," the Doctor said. "The man is not sane and he's already attacked me once. I'd rather not have him do it again."

"You say that he is insane. What does that entail? I admit we're not as familiar with humans as we probably should be. They're still such a small presence in the universe."

"From what he told me, he started this mining group, corporation, for profit. He admitted that he didn't care about the galactic laws, so I'm not sure if he broke similar laws on original Earth or not, but it's something that Pierre might be able to tell you," the Doctor said. "Then an outside influence entered his mind telepathically. Mitchell has no latent talent at all, so the presence of another mind would have twisted his own until he was hallucinating constantly. The people of Ban would have the power to have done this, and might have, before the telepathic dampeners were put in place. I won't know until I can examine their minds as well, should you wish me to."

The Shadow Architect nodded. "Do you believe this invasion was in self-defense or for another reason?"

"If it was the people of Ban who did so, it's in self-defense to try and save their planet and their people," the Doctor said. "It it wasn't, then I don't know. Let me take a look and see if I can find a trace in his mind, some hint of who might have been pushing at him so insistently."

"Is there anything you need?"

"Just quiet." The Doctor knelt down at the head of the cot Mitchell was lying on and took his head carefully in his hands. "I don't know how long I'll be, Shadow Architect. I'm going to make as thorough a check as I can."

"In your own time, Doctor. I'll send for tea and nourishment for your companions."

Jack bowed slightly. "Thank you, Shadow Architect."

The Doctor knew that Jack would be able to handle anything that came up while he was busy, and slipped into Mitchell's mind. It was much quieter with him unconscious and the Doctor hoped that he would be able to work out what happened. He was still debating the two options he'd thought of for what happened to Mitchell; outside influence driving him mad or his own mind rebelling against him. As it would be easier to search for external influences, the Doctor focused on that first, searching through Mitchell's mind as thoroughly as he knew how, and almost overlooked it in the end.

There was a small seed, a parasitic connection, and one that the Doctor recognized. It was a planet that had been on the Time Lords' watch list for centuries. "Sandavia," he said softly, aloud.

"Never heard of it," Jack replied. "Shadow Architect?"

"A planet of strong telepaths who desire power," she said softly. "Doctor, are you sure?"

The Doctor closed down the link with Mitchell and opened his eyes. "It's very well hidden, deeply in his subconscious. I doubt that he even knows it's there, given his lack of talent," he said. "It's active, oh so very active. I didn't see that particular planet on any of the lists that the Beta Mining Corporation had, but I did notice another planet in their system was on there. Delfame."

"Which was taken over by Sandavia two centuries ago," the Shadow Architect said. "They were allowed a small degree of freedom in return for their service to their new masters. We watch, but there is no violation of galactic law. How do you know of them?"

"We watched them," the Doctor said. "The Time Lords always watched over any planet with the potential for telepathy. Sandavia is one that I have visited and reported back to the High Council on."

"Do you believe they are the backers of the Beta Mining Corporation?" the Shadow Architect asked.

"It's possible," the Doctor said. "This is all my evidence for you, Shadow Architect. I leave this in your hands."

She nodded. "You have saved a lot of people and planets, Doctor. We will act at once," the Shadow Architect said. "How may we contact you if we have need of you for the trials?"

"I'll leave my details with you before I go. I've got to take some friends to find a new home," the Doctor said. "You don't have any objections to that?"

"No. Tell me as we walk back to you ship, the humans held by the dragons, are any of them needed for trial?"

The Doctor shook his head. "They're the grunts. The ones who did the work for money, not to take over worlds," he said. "I'll send you a list of names and planets, if you like, so you can know where they are."

"That would be wise, Doctor. Thank you for you aid today."

"As long as you don't ask me to start a war, I'm glad to help," the Doctor grinned. He stopped at the desk and wrote down some information. "This will get a hold of me whenever I'm in conceptual space. There isn't a way to send messages into the Time Vortex."

"This will do. Send up the rest of the information as you gather it. You are free to leave us, Doctor. We take action immediately."

"Thank you, Shadow Architect." The Doctor and Jack bowed before walking back into the TARDIS, Amy having already vanished.

"Oh, Doctor," the Shadow Architect called.

"Yes?"

"Your human friend. You'll take care of her as well?"

"Yes. I know what's happened and will deal with it personally."

The Shadow Architect smiled. "Travel safely, Doctor. Do not be afraid to return to us if need be. Your flight has been forgiven this day."

"I'll remember that. Be healthy, Shadow Architect." The Doctor ducked back into the TARDIS and shut the door behind him. "That's settled. Now, back to collect Rory and Anna and start transporting people to their new homes."

Jack looked over from the console. He'd started the process to send the TARDIS into space. "You're sure they're going to take care of everything?" he asked.

"We can check up on them, but the Shadow Architect knows of the Time Lords, Jack," the Doctor said. "She knows that I would be a lot more thorough and a lot less pleasant should I have to go in and cleanse the planets of the mining group. Now, you didn't send us into the Time Vortex, did you?"

"Nope, we're still here, just heading back to the dragon's planet. I notice you didn't give them that information yet."

"Doctor, what was that all about at the end? Why do you have to take care of me?" Amy asked.

"Because you're sick, Pond. You should be in bed resting while I take care of a few last minute details. Then we'll get you cured, yeah?"

"I don't feel sick."

"You don't feel yourself though, do you?" Jack asked.

"Not really. I feel odd."

"That's to be expected," the Doctor said. "Sleep, Pond. Rory will be back with you soon and we'll get everything taken care of."

The pair watched her leave the console room silently. Jack looked over at the Doctor. "You will be able to get that thing out of her, won't you, Doc?"

"I hope so, Jack. I really do. I'll have to see what the machine looks like that implanted it and why it was done to fully understand it," the Doctor replied. "It's asleep for the moment, so we can focus on one task at a time."

"Anna and the kids?"

"Then all the others. There are still families that need rescuing," the Doctor said. "Loose ends that the Shadow Proclamation might not care about, so we have to."

Jack grinned. "I'm all for it."


	27. Chapter 27

Rory was sitting with Anna and Danny talking about things that had been happening when his ears picked up the faint noise of the TARDIS materializing. "The Doctor's back," he said with a grin.

"What do you think's been happening?" Danny asked, looking around.

"Such a spirit for adventure you," Anna sighed. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Just be patient."

"Rory?"

"Yeah, in here, Doctor," Rory replied standing up and heading towards the cavern hallway. "So, you're back?"

"Everything's going fine," the Doctor said. "Jack Harkness, Rory Pond. Rory, Amy's asleep if you want to go look in on her. I need to speak with the dragon king and Jack's going to have a few words with Anna."

"I'll go in a second," Rory said. "Anna's a little jumpy around strangers and will do better if I'm around. Doctor, is Amy okay?"

"No, Rory, she's not. I feel horrible for putting things off like this, but I had to do this first. There were over four hundred worlds enslaved by the mining group."

Jack put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "The burden of the Time Lord, Doc," he said. "You go to your meeting and let me take care of things here. See you in a bit."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Jack." The Doctor hugged Rory tightly and headed off down the large hall towards the king's chambers.

Rory looked over at Jack. "He's never going to tell me everything about this, is he?"

"Probably not, but I'm going to hang out for a bit and he'll talk to me," Jack said. "Now, you flinched when the Doctor introduced you. Pond isn't your last name, is it?"

"No, it's Williams. The Doctor's the one who decided that I was a Pond and I just go with it," Rory said. "You're good. Come on, I'll introduce you to Anna and Danny."

Jack followed Rory into a large cave and stopped a good distance away from where a middle-aged woman was sitting. He listened to the introduction and wanted to cry at how unfair the universe was. This woman was going to have to raise her children on her own because of her husband's greed. They had nothing left. "Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you," Jack said when he saw Anna looking at him. "The Doctor asked me to talk to you. We've finished our investigations into the mining group and have permission to take you to whatever planet you want to live on to raise your children."

"What do you mean, permission?"

"The Beta Mining Corporation has come under review of the Shadow Proclamation for multiple violations of galactic law," Jack said. "We had to report everything we knew, but owing to some special circumstances, you're free to go with no problems at all. Do you have family? Is there a planet you prefer? The Doctor can take you wherever you want to go."

Danny looked over. "Mom, what's he talking about? We're just employees of the Beta group," he said. "Why would they be interested in us?"

"Up to you," Jack said in reply to Anna's look at him.

"Danny, when you were younger, I was a little more involved with the Beta group than you realize," Anna said. "Captain, I do have family back on Earth. My parents and sisters are there. Would that be possible?"

"Of course. An easy hop," Jack said. "Why don't you gather everyone up and get ready to go? The Doctor's in a meeting, but should be done soon. We'll get you home."

"Thank you," Anna said.

Rory followed Jack back out to the TARDIS. "I'm going to check on Amy," he said. "You know, I'm going to be sad to leave here for good. The dragons have gotten to be good friends."

"We'll be hopping back and forth for a while. The Shadow Proclamation gave us permission to relocate all the workers," Jack said. "It probably wouldn't hurt to have a human here until we're done with that. Then we'll take care of Amy and then the Doc wants to overhaul the TARDIS."

"So we'll be here for a while yet?"

"Long enough for you to make sure that Melconia's wing heals," the Doctor said, rejoining the group. "We have been named friends for life by the king and have a standing invitation to visit whenever we want. He's also going to let us service the TARDIS here."

Jack grinned. "Fantastic news, Doc."

"Indeed it is." The Doctor clapped his hands together with a smile. "Now, what about Anna and the kids? Where are we taking them?"

"Earth."

"Easily done. Let's get them all loaded up and on their way. What part of Earth, Anna?"

"New York," she said softly. "Central Park will work for landing. My sisters live close to the park."

"Everyone inside. Do you have everything?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Then off we go."  
**********

Jack was the one to open the door once they were on Earth and helped Danny with the kids. Anna stayed back for a minute. "Thank you, Doctor," she said.

"You're welcome, Anna. Take care of all of them. Don't be too hard on Danny when he finds out the truth about his father. You had to make an impossible choice and you did the best you could," the Doctor said.

"What will happen to my husband?" Anna asked.

"I don't know. It's up to the Shadow Proclamation and they follow their own laws. I think it's best to consider your husband as dead, Anna. Mourn and move on," the Doctor said. "We're the only ones who know where you are. You won't be bothered over any of this."

She nodded. "I think this is a better life for my children than any they could have had in space," Anna said. "Humans need sunshine."

"Indeed they do. Off you go, Anna. Show them the wonders of the world they can now call home."

"Thank you again, Doctor." Anna smiled and hurried off.

Rory joined the Doctor by the door. "Doctor, how long will it take to take care of Amy?" he asked.

"Not long, Rory. That's our next stop. Then relocation for all those mining group employees and then time with our new friends," the Doctor said. "Jack, we're ready to leave."

Jack waved to show that he had heard, kissed all the kids on the forehead and jogged back to the TARDIS. "They're strong, Doc. They'll all be fine."

The trio went back into the console room. "Hidden away at the heart of the human empire," the Doctor chuckled. "Life in the sun. It's a good life. Now, to New Earth to sort Pond."  
***********

The cats were waiting when the Doctor opened the door and stepped out. "I found what you did to my friend," he said without any preamble. "I want to know why and then you're going to remove the chip from her head. Do we understand each other?"

"You cannot order us, Time Lord."

"No, I cannot," the Doctor said. "I'm normally against the use of violence as a solution to any problem, but a couple of friends have taught me that occasionally it's okay. Jack."

Jack stepped out behind the Doctor holding a very large gun. "Fix Amy or we'll talk," he said.

There was a round of hissing and every ear flattened back when the cats saw the gun. The Doctor grinned. "You have a choice. Tell me everything I want to know and remove the chip from my companion's head," he said. "Or I'll let Jack here question you while I work out the answers for myself. It's your choice."

"What your companion took for a teleport is actually an experiment in mind control," one of the cats said. "It should not have worked on a human."

"Shouldn't have, but it did," the Doctor said. "Enough that it altered her personality and made her more like a cat than a human. You're lucky that I didn't report this when I paid a visit to the Shadow Proclamation on unrelated business. You know how they frown on such devices. Mind control is illegal under several of the galactic laws. Captain, if the machine isn't needed to remove the chip from Amy's mind, you have my permission to destroy it."

Jack grinned. "Gladly."

"It is needed," the head cat said. "Bring your friend. We will fix her. Then you will leave."

"We'll leave when we are certain that you can go no farther in your researches." The Doctor motioned to Rory to bring Amy out of the TARDIS. "Before I let you have her, I'll say this. If you hurt her in any way, do her any harm, send her to another time. If I even suspect you've harmed her, you won't have to worry about the Shadow Proclamation discovering your work here."

"Why not?"

The Doctor stepped forward and looked directly into the cat's eyes. "Because I will have dismantled your society and killed every last one of you. Do you understand?"

"He's bluffing," another cat said.

"One word for you fluffballs," Jack called. "Daleks."

"We don't understand," the cat said.

"This man is the one who has wiped out the daleks five times," Jack said. "I helped him do it once. Do you really want to take your chances? Just do what he's asking you to do and be happy you didn't make him madder than he is."

Rory blinked in surprise at how fast the cats went into action after that. One took Amy from his arms, she was unconscious, and moved towards one of the machines that looked like teleports. 

The Doctor and Jack followed, Jack with his gun still trained on the cats. "Doctor, what's going to happen?" Rory asked.

"I have no idea, Rory, but this explains why Amy was acting like she was," the Doctor said. "Mind control. Nasty business."

"How did they manage it?"

"There's a small chip implanted in Amy's head. They say the machine will remove it without hurting Amy," the Doctor said. "We'll see what happens."

"Her head isn't going to explode or anything, is it?"

"No, of course not. Nothing so dramatic. Relax, Rory. You'll have your wife back soon enough."

Jack remained focused on the cats while the Doctor was talking to Rory. He already had permission to take out the machine once they were sure that Amy was fine and they didn't need it anymore.

"It is done," one of the cats finally said.

"I'll be the final judge of that," the Doctor replied. He stepped up and cradled Amy's head in his hands. "They're right, it's gone. There's no damage at all, beyond what Amy might remember. That's something she'll just have to come to terms with. Rory, take her back towards the TARDIS will you?"

Amy's eyes fluttered when Rory picked her up. "Where are we?"

"Heading home," Rory said with a smile.

"We'll be right there, Rory. Leave the door open," the Doctor said. He looked at the head cat. "I think that I'll be keeping an eye on this planet for a while to ensure that you don't start messing about with ideas of mind control again. Be glad that it's just me and not the Shadow Proclamation, although, if I find you have rebuilt any of this or used it on any human again, I will report you. Captain."

"With pleasure." Jack leveled his gun and fired at the machine. It exploded into an expressive fireball. "I'm not as nice as the Doctor is, guys. He won't be the only one keeping an eye on you."

"Our work is done," the Doctor said. "I hope you learn a lesson from this, cats. Minds are not to be messed with."

He turned back towards the TARDIS, Jack following close in behind him. "Fortunately that was an easy fix. Amy needs some quiet time to recover, we need to ferry humans to their new homes and repair the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "I think we're lucky the dragons are so generous."

"They like you, Doc," Jack grinned.

"I have a feeling they like Rory more," the Doctor said. He shut the door firmly behind them. "He's spent the most time amongst them and learned their customs. Even a bit of their language, if I understand correctly."

Rory flushed. "Melconia and her mum have been teaching me," he said. "Are we heading back there, Doctor?"

"Indeed we are, Rory. You and Amy can have a rest while Jack and I take the rest of the humans wherever they want to go," the Doctor said. He finished setting coordinates and the TARDIS shuddered as she vanished. "Then you can have a longer rest while Jack and I do a little work on my ship."

Rory looked at Jack. "You know, you're nothing like I was expecting you to be" he said.

"Oh yeah, what did you expect?" Jack asked.

"I dunno, really. The Doctor just warned me to keep Amy away from you."

Jack laughed. "Doctor, you should at least give me fair chance."

"I was, Jack. I know how much you love a challenge."


	28. Chapter 28

Amy and Rory were lying in the grass just outside the TARDIS listening to the easy banter inside, interspersed with thuds or clangs as Jack helped the Doctor with as complete an overhaul as they could manage without being on Gallifrey. "You know, I really don't remember much of anything after I went into that teleport machine," Amy commented. "So that means that I missed one of our biggest adventures yet. That's not fair."

"You had an adventure of your own before we got you back, Amy," Rory said. "It sounded like you managed just fine."

"No cats are going to sacrifice me," Amy said. "So, tell me, what do you think of the Doctor's friend?"

"Jack? I like him," Rory said. "His constant flirting gets a little old, but he's got a boyfriend so I know it is just flirting. You can't convince me that you don't like it."

"I'm not sure what to think of him," Amy said. "There's something really different about him."

"That's because I'm from a different century," Jack commented from behind them.

"Oi, you're as bad as the Doctor sneaking up on people," Amy protested sitting up. "It's rude to eavesdrop."

Jack just laughed and sat down close to them. "I convinced the Doc it's time for lunch. He's gone to see what the TARDIS still has in the larder for us to eat. How are you feeling, Amy?"

"I'm fine. There's no need to fuss over me."

"Sure there is, you went through something traumatic, even if you're not remembering it right now," Jack said. "That gives us all full fussing rights, doesn't it, Doc?"

Rory got up to help the Doctor with the hamper he was carrying. "Y'know, I've been meaning to ask. Why does he call you 'Doc' instead of Doctor?" he asked. "I've never heard anyone else shorten your name like that."

"When you've known me for a few more centuries, Mr. 2,000-years as a Roman, you can call me that too," the Doctor said.

"Really? Two thousand years? I bet you looked good in that skirt, Rory," Jack said with a grin.

"Oh, just give it a rest, Jack," the Doctor sighed. "You'll put me right off my food."

"Fine, but just for you," Jack said.

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Ponds, how are you both feeling today? We've got another two days of work to do on the TARDIS. Might be time to let your friends know you're going to be leaving soon."

"It'll be hard," Rory said. "I've really grown attached to the dragons."

"And they to you," the Doctor said. "We can come visit, Rory. Leaving doesn't always mean good-bye, right, Jack?"

"Too right," Jack agreed. "You two spend as much time as you want with your dragon friends and I'll keep a close eye on the Doc and the TARDIS."

"Doctor, does he ever stop?" Amy asked.

"No. He's been banned from saying hello most of the time," the Doctor said. "I hear stories that they want to glue his mouth shut, but his boyfriend protested."

Rory turned bright red and Amy started laughing. Jack just looked at the Doctor. "Where did you hear that, Doc?" he asked.

"I've heard from your lad, Jack," the Doctor replied. "He rang to make sure you were okay. I promised to keep you on a tight leash for him while you're out exploring."

"Aw, Doc, you old softy, you shouldn't have."

"Yes, I should," the Doctor said. "Your young man believes that you regard him only as a side benefit, Jack. You and I both know that isn't true. Maybe it's time you start showing him what he really means to you."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I should. It's hard though, you know? He's mortal."

"I know, Jack." The Doctor moved over and bumped Jack's shoulder with his own. "I know exactly what you mean and I'll be there if you want to talk."

"Excuse me, but do we get to find out what you're talking about?" Amy asked.

"Nope," Jack grinned. "Some things really are personal."

Amy looked around for something to toss at Jack, trying to get a food fight started, but there wasn't anything that wouldn't make a mess. Which was just as well, because the Doctor was in the line of fire, and he had a distant look in his eye. She nudged Rory. "So, Mr. Pond, I think it's time you fill me in. Both of you. I want to know exactly what it was I missed."

The Doctor let the talk wash over him while he thought. He could feel time settling back into place. He was still planning to keep an eye on a few of the planets that the Beta Mining Corporation had taken over, but had to put faith in the Shadow Proclamation to do their job. He'd also discovered a new planet and species. There weren't many Time Lords who could claim the same. Jack was a warm, solid presence next to him, a glowing spot in time that could never be lost. It made the Doctor feel a little less lonely when he knew that he would always have one friend he could rely on.

He settled back for a short nap in the sun before he went back to repairing the TARDIS. There were few things a short nap in the sun couldn't make seem better.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoy my fan fiction, please check out my original works on amazon. I have an assortment of genres and stories on offer.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Lexxie-Scott/e/B00BHME9QQ
> 
> Everything I do online is under pen names, so please don't be confused by the different names. :-)


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